Cyber threats in the modern day

Today, the term is almost exclusively used to describe information security matters. Because it’s hard to visualize how digital signals traveling across a wire can represent an attack, we’ve taken to visualizing the digital phenomenon as a physical one.

A cyber attack is an attack that is mounted against us (meaning our digital devices) by means of cyberspace. Cyberspace, a virtual space that doesn’t exist, has become the metaphor to help us understand digital weaponry that intends to harm us.

What is real, however, is the intent of the attacker as well as the potential impact. While many cyber attacks are merely nuisances, some are quite serious, even potentially threatening human lives.

Why is it necessary to protect from cyber threats?

Cyber threats are a big deal. Cyber attacks can cause electrical blackouts, failure of military equipment and breaches of national security secrets. They can result in the theft of valuable, sensitive data like medical records. They can disrupt phone and computer networks or paralyze systems, making data unavailable. It’s not an exaggeration to say that cyber threats may affect the functioning of life as we know it.

The threats are growing more serious, too. Gartner explains, “Cybersecurity risks pervade every organization and aren’t always under IT’s direct control. Business leaders are forging ahead with their digital business initiatives, and those leaders are making technology-related risk choices every day. Increased cyber risk is real — but so are the data security solutions.”

The US government is taking cyber threats seriously but appears to be moving too slowly to mitigate them. The White House’s Office of Management and Budget revealed that, of 96 federal agencies it assessed, 74 percent were either “At Risk” or “High Risk” for cyber attacks. They needed immediate security improvements.

The US government has experienced numerous crippling data breaches in the last few years. Examples include the massive breach of the Federal Office of Personnel Management and the theft of secret US Naval codes. Both attacks have been attributed to Chinese state intelligence agencies.

Types of cybersecurity threats

Cybersecurity threats come in three broad categories of intent. Attackers are after:

Financial gain
Disruption
Espionage (including corporate espionage – the theft of patents or state espionage)

Virtually every cyber threat falls into one of these three modes. In terms of attack techniques, malicious actors have an abundance of options. There are ten common types of cyber threats:

Malware. Software that performs a malicious task on a target device or network, e.g. corrupting data or taking over a system.
Phishing. An email-borne attack that involves tricking the email recipient into disclosing confidential information or downloading malware by clicking on a hyperlink in the message.
Spear Phishing. A more sophisticated form of phishing where the attacker learns about the victim and impersonates someone he or she knows and trusts.
“Man in the Middle” (MitM) attack. Where an attacker establishes a position between the sender and recipient of electronic messages and intercepts them, perhaps changing them in transit. The sender and recipient believe they are communicating directly with one another. A MitM attack might be used in the military to confuse an enemy.
Trojans. Named after the Trojan Horse of ancient Greek history, the Trojan is a type of malware that enters a target system looking like one thing, e.g. a standard piece of software, but then lets out the malicious code once inside the host system.
Ransomware. An attack that involves encrypting data on the target system and demanding a ransom in exchange for letting the user have access to the data again. These attacks range from low-level nuisances to serious incidents like the locking down of the entire city of Atlanta’s municipal government data in 2018.
Denial of Service attack or Distributed Denial of Service Attack (DDoS). Where an attacker takes over many (perhaps thousands) of devices and uses them to invoke the functions of a target system, e.g. a website, causing it to crash from an overload of demand.
Attacks on IoT Devices. IoT devices like industrial sensors are vulnerable to multiple types of cyber threats. These include hackers taking over the device to make it part of a DDoS attack and unauthorized access to data being collected by the device. Given their numbers, geographic distribution and frequently out-of-date operating systems, IoT devices are a prime target for malicious actors.
Data Breaches. A data breach is a theft of data by a malicious actor. Motives for data breaches include crime (i.e. identity theft), a desire to embarrass an institution (e.g. Edward Snowden or the DNC hack) and espionage.
Malware on Mobile Apps. Mobile devices are vulnerable to malware attacks just like other computing hardware. Attackers may embed malware in app downloads, mobile websites or phishing emails and text messages. Once compromised, a mobile device can give the malicious actor access to personal information, location data, financial accounts and more.

Emerging cyber threats

Cyber threats are never static. There are millions being created every year. Most threats follow the standard structures described above. However, they are becoming more and more potent.

For example, there is a new generation of “zero-day” threats that are able to surprise defenses because they carry no detectable digital signatures.

Another worrisome trend is the continuing “improvement” of what experts call “Advanced Persistent Threats” (APTs). As Business Insider describes APTs, “It’s the best way to define the hackers who burrow into networks and maintain ‘persistence’ — a connection that can’t be stopped simply by software updates or rebooting a computer.”

The notorious Sony Pictures hack is an example of an APT, where a nation-state actor lurked inside the company’s network for months, evading detection while exfiltrating enormous amounts of data.

Sources of cybersecurity threats

Cyber threats come from a variety of places, people and contexts. Malicious actors include:

Individuals that create attack vectors using their own software tools
Criminal organizations that are run like corporations, with large numbers of employees developing attack vectors and executing attacks
Nation states
Terrorists
Industrial spies
Organized crime groups
Unhappy insiders
Hackers
Business competitors

Nation states are the sources of many of the most serious attacks. There are several different versions of nation-state cyber threats. Some are basic espionage— trying to learn another country’s national secrets. Others are aimed at disruption.

For example, Chris Painter of the U.S. Department of State commented in a Brookings Institutionarticle that China and North Korea “have frequently exercised their cyber power to achieve their strategic goals around the globe.”

He noted, though, “Their motivations and objectives differ: While North Korea primarily aims to develop capabilities for revenue generation and destructive capabilities for potential conflicts outside North Korea, China mainly utilizes its cyber means for espionage and intellectual property theft. “Naming and shaming” has been an effective tool against China because of its government’s concerns on the potential blowback on its soft power.”

These are the so-called “cyber weapons” that might be used to shut off electricity in enemy territory during a war. In some countries, the boundaries between criminal organizations and national intelligence are blurred, with the criminals doing the actual work of cyber espionage.

Many cyber threats are bought and sold on the “dark web,” a disorganized but widespread criminal segment of the Internet. In this online bazaar, aspiring hackers can buy ransomware, malware, credentials for breached systems and more. The dark web serves as a multiplier for threats, with one hacker being able to sell his or her creation over and over.