Jason Exume
Attacks that disrupt availability
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There are several types of cyber-attacks that target the availability of systems. These can include DDOS attacks, Phishing Attacks, and logic bombs. There are several more but for now I’ll just focus on these 3. The listed cyber-attacks can all have a devastating effect on an organization, including the availability of services and even revenue generation. Throughout this write up I’ll explain in detail the several types of cyber-attacks and how they impact organizations and individuals
What is an attack on availability.
The phrase “attack on availability” can be used in several conversation topics. In this instance, I will focus on how it applies to cyber space. When hearing this phrase attack on availability, causing harm to something that can be accessed at will comes to mind. The motive for carrying out an attack with this intention could be the attacker having a strong disagreement on what the use or intentions of a digital system or physical tool can be used for. An attack of this caliber is likely fueled by passion and urgency. “With systems down, organizations can no longer operate and communicate internally and for those that are customer-facing, can prevent them from providing the products, solutions and services that allow them to generate revenues. (crmg 2025).
Attack types
Logic bomb
When first hearing the term Logic bomb, it may spark confusion and an ominous feeling.” A logic bomb is a set of instructions embedded in a software system that, if specified conditions are met, triggers a malicious payload to take actions against the operating system, application, or network.” (Josh Fruhlinger 2024) “While logic bombs are sometimes delivered via the same techniques that can infect your computer with viruses or other malware, more often they’re planted by insiders with privileged access to the system being attacked — and can therefore be quite tricky to detect. (Josh Fruhlinger 2024). As ominous as it may sound, this attack is quite harmful toward an organization’s integrity and the internal trust of an organization’s staff. These attacks are dormant until triggered,” he worm analyzes the underlying hardware and if it matches the system it was designed to attack, it spins any attached uranium centrifuges fast enough to destroy them” (Josh Fruhlinger 2024) a logic bomb may also” may go off if someone attempts to open a specified file, for instance, or copy data from one directory to another” (Josh Fruhlinger 2024) . This type of attack is mainly carried out by someone who clearly has a hatred for an organization or by someone who sees themselves being fired and has the intention of bringing the organization and its system down with them.
Phishing Attack
Phishing attacks are steadily increasing globally. The deceptive tactic for carrying out this attack is also evolving, furthermore they are aimed at organizations big and small and everyday citizens. So, what exactly is phishing. “Phishing is a type of cyberattack where threat actors masquerade as legitimate companies or individuals to steal sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and other personal details. These attacks typically occur through deceptive emails, text messages, phone calls, and other forms of communication that appear to come from trusted sources”. (Bart Lenaerts-Bergmans – 2024). This attack can cause damage to integrity, image, and revenue. To and organization. Today this attack is likely to be successful on people who are not aware of the false advertisement on the cyber space and to people who are not tech Savy
What is a DDOS attack
DDOS stands for distributed denial of service “This attack is mainly used to overload a system or website to make it inaccessible to the public. “In other words, it’s a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic” (2025 Cloudflare) This is the main and most used attack to take down the availability of a system and website.” DDoS attacks are carried out with networks of Internet-connected machines. These networks consist of computers and other devices (such as IoT devices) which have been infected with malware, allowing them to be controlled remotely by an attacker. These individual devices are referred to as bots (or zombies), and a group of bots is called a botnet. Once a botnet has been established, the attacker is able to direct an attack by sending remote instructions to each bot. When a victim’s server or network is targeted by the botnet, each bot sends requests to the target’s IP address, potentially causing the server or network to become overwhelmed, resulting in a denialHYPERLINK “https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ddos/glossary/denial-of-service/”of-service to normal traffic.” (2025 Cloudflare). While unfortunate, there are ways to identify when these attacks are in progress. One way to tell would be when a website starts processing slower than usual or becomes unavailable out of nowhere. Another way to tell would be noticing abnormal high frequence traffic patterns. These attacks can cause consumers to lose access to an organization systems and services that they may provide,
Recent attack
A recent phishing attack that was on display occurred at Old Dominion University a few days ago. A vast majority of students and staff received scam emails offering jobs with tempting salaries attached to them. The school’s It support unit sent a mass email out to both students and staff informing them of the attack and instructing them on what to do if you arrive at one of these fraudulent offers. This shows that cyber scams and attacks can occur anywhere to anyone, even to those in school. What’s more eye opening is that some students did fall victim to this attack, opening the link to apply for this fraudulent job. And possibly having their data stolen.
Effects of availability attacks on an organizations and people
DDOS attacks lead to the loss of revenue, loss or slowdown of productivity, Remedition costs, and damage to brand repetition. This attack is cheap to carry out and can be considered easy depending on the attacker’s skill. On the other hand, it is extremely expensive to recover from. The slowing down and loss of productivity also ties into an organization’s revenue due to the attack slowing down a service that is made to assist the consumer. If a brand or an organization is constantly under attack, it’s only natural that consumer question if the brand/organization is safe and reliable. Phishing attacks violate both organizations and individual citizens on a personal level. The effects of this attack may include Fraudulent charges on credit cards, Lost access to photos, videos, and files, and even Identity theft. Logic bomb attacks damage an organization’s integrity and trust. After an attack of this caliber is executed. It leads to Finacial loss, system failure and even data loss.
Defense against cyber attacks
To defend against phishing, it’s best to always use strong passwords and be caution of links, especially those found in your email. Always double check who the sender is and take precautions to ensure that you are not being deceived. To defend against DDOS attacks organizations can monitor networking traffic hunt for abnormal online patterns that may signal an attacking has or will occur. You can also set limits as to how many requests a person can make to a server. To defend against Logic bomb attacks, use reliable cyber security software and update whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are ample attack types that can target the availability of systems and networks. Cyber attackers can even target individuals with deceiving tactics. All the attacks discussed in this write-up are considered lethal and can cause integrity breaches, financial loss, and even personal data loss. It’s important to stay educated, especially in this day and age where almost everything is online. While these attacks can have some devastating effects, there are ways to protect yourself and organization against them. One tactic being updating software as often as possible and being weary of suspicious emails, especially if they are attached with a link.
Source
Explained: System availability attacks and why they are likely to be your greatest threat –
CRMG
What is Phishing? Techniques and Prevention | CrowdStrike
What is a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack? | Cloudflare
Logic bombs explained: Definition, examples, prevention | CSO Online
Why DDoS Attacks Are So Damaging