Describe some actions or techniques that can be used to mitigate or stop the impacts of malicious applications.  Are some of these methods more effective than others?  Provide an example of a cyber attack that resulted from the execution of malicious code.  There are plenty of examples that can be queried from the Internet.

There are many different ways a malware attack could be prevented. Such as filtering out packets you are not expecting just as if it were regular mail. By doing this you are not getting junk or putting the computer at risk. Another option that can be done is to block websites that you know are not safe. Looking for the s missing from the URL or a website ending in “.comm”. Being vigilant is always the best protection such as not clicking links sent without verifying the sender or verifying the URL. Another way to be safe is to keep daily backup logs in case the computer needs to be wiped to stop an attack.

A real-time malicious code attack was the SolarWinds attack in 2020. In this case, attackers implanted malicious code into the update of the SolarWinds server. This resulted in many government facilities and agencies along with many private sectors becoming affected.

Resources:

Malicious code: Real life examples and 14 protective measures. Aqua. (2023, July 18). https://www.aquasec.com/cloud-native-academy/vulnerability-management/malicious-code/

Mitigating malware and ransomware attacks. NCSC. (2020, February 13). https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/mitigating-malware-and-ransomware-attacks#actionstotake