Common Security Threats

Security threats have increased these past months. Open networks, public Wi-Fi, remote connections, the Internet of Things (IoT), proximity payments, cloud computing… The list of Security threats is long and cyber criminality is real.

To highlight our vision of this digital world, here is an unfortunately not exhaustive list of main computer threats.

Spam

Spam is one of the most common security threats. A lot of people are affected every year. Canada has a new anti-spam legislation aiming to fix this major security issue. Spam occurs when you receive several unsolicited emails that will phish for your information by tricking you into following links.

Pharming

Its objective is to convince you to visit a malicious and illegitimate website by redirecting the legitimate URL. You may then give your personal information to this malicious person.

Phishing

Phishing in unfortunately very easy to execute. It consists of fake emails or messages that look exactly like emails from legitimate companies. You are deluded into thinking it’s the legitimate company and you may enter your personal and financial information.

Ransomware

Ransomware went viral last month because of “Wannacry” and “Petya Or NotPetya”. Hackers sneak into computers and restrict the access to your system and files. Then they ask for a payment in exchange for regaining access to your system.

Computer worm

This is a very common security threat. A worm works on its own, lives in your computer, and propagates by sending itself to other computers.

Spyware / Trojan Horse

A Trojan Horse is a malicious program that looks like a legitimate software. While installed on your computer it runs automatically and will spy on your system, or delete your files.

Distributed denial-of-service attack

The attack strategy is to contact a specific website or server over and over again. It increases the volume of traffic and shuts down the website / server. The malicious user usually uses a network of zombie computers.

Network of zombie computers

This is a way to execute several security threats. The malicious user takes control of several computers and controls them remotely.

Malware

This is the common name given to several security threats that infiltrate and damage your computer.

Virus

A virus is always hidden in a legitimate software or website and infects your computer as well as the computers of everyone in your contact list.

The phenomenon of security threats increases every day. Fortunately, there are ways to protect yourself against it, such as antivirus software. Caution is your best partner!

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