With cyber-attacks more prevalent today than ever before, it’s of utmost importance that people educate themselves of the greatest threats and how to prevent falling victim to them.

Here we explore the biggest threats to cyber security so you know what to look out for.

Distributed Denial of Service Attack

A DDoS or Distributed Denial of Service attack is launched in order to force a website or online service offline.

There are a variety of ways in which this can be accomplished, but attackers generally overload the site with traffic from multiple sources – often hundreds or thousands – which makes it extremely difficult to trace and are distributed by infected devices.

Viruses

At one point in time, the term ‘computer virus’ simply referred to any type of infection, but as technology has advanced, so have hackers and now there is more to worry about than ever before.

Today, a virus typically refers to a malicious programme which self-replicates following a specific user interaction and can therefore be incredibly tough to remove.

Spyware

Dedicated to stealing your personal information such as passwords and log in information, spyware is a sub-section of viruses. Once spyware makes its way into your mobile device or computer it can be difficult to identify and may run for long periods of time entirely undetected.

You may never pick up any trace of anything being wrong and you’ll have to install specialised software in order to identify and eradicate spyware. Fortunately the chances of picking up spyware at reputable bingo Australia sites is almost non-existent.

Malware and Trojans

While malware can refer to almost any type of nefarious software designed to damage or disrupt your systems, trojans (named for the Trojan Horse from Greek mythology) are programmes which pretend to be something they’re not.

Typically embedded in legitimate software downloaded from peer-to-peer sites, trojans gain access to your system through the install files of the legitimate software and can allow hackers to gain even further access to your systems and files.

Ransomware

Ransomware may enter your system through a virus, worm, or trojan and may run silently without detection until you suddenly realise that all your personal files and sensitive information is being held for a ransom.

The threat is generally that your files will be destroyed or leaked if you do not pay the ransom.

Worms

Unlike viruses which require some kind of user interaction, worms are arguably far more malicious as they can replicate and spread to a computer network with no warning at all.

As they are easily spread and far more difficult to contain, worms have been known to wreak havoc on computer networks of all sizes.

Doxing

A tactic typically used by hackers and cyberbullies, a doxing attack involves releasing the personal information of an individual or a group online.

In 2011, the hacktivist group Anonymous released the names and addresses of many Los Angeles Police Department officers who were accused of shutting down the influential Occupy L.A. Movement