Video 7: Cybersecurity and Crime
Today, cyber crimes are causing huge problems around the world by exploiting vulnerabilities in hardware and software. Criminals (hackers) rely on three primary methods of attack: software viruses, denial of service attacks and phishing.
Viruses
Viruses are installed executable programs that harm user computers and can spread. Victims are lured into downloading viruses. Can be disguised as security updates.
Hackers
Through computer viruses, hackers remotely control numerous users' computers and steal money, information and privacy. Damage from hackers is a constant and growing problem.
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks
Hackers overwhelm web site with requests from botnet of hacked computers
A Denial of Service (DOS) attack is a type of cyber weapon where hackers flood a website with access requests in order to overload the site's servers and cause it to crash. A Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack is the same concept, but the access requests come from multiple computers, making it harder to trace and harder to control.
Botnet
A botnet is an "army" of computers that have been infected with a virus. Whether through a fake program or phishing, when a computer gets a virus, it can be used by a hacker to contribute to a bigger goal. For the most part, botnets are used in DDoS attacks because it is an easy way to spam billions of requests.
Phishing
Sending e-mail to steal info. Can also be done via webpages.
Thanks to the frequent targeting of university emails, UNC students, faculty, and staff are all likely to encounter phishing scams. Designed to extract personal information from unsuspecting victims, a phishing attack will typically come in the form of a malicious website masked under the pretense of a trustworthy link. Once you've logged into the fake site, your credentials can be used to the hackers inclinations. Phishing can also be done via telephone or strategically dropped flash drives loaded with viruses.