How Cybercriminals Change Tactics During Their Cyber Attacks

The amount of cyberattacks is constantly rising throughout the world. The author tackles the question, “How these threats are continuously spreading?” by looking at the tactics employed by hackers. This article describes the transition from old-age malware hackers to cybercriminals who employ advanced technological tools such as attack vectors enabling higher intrusion and havoc. For example, attackers exploited Window’s operating system by implementing an attack with an extremely low detection rate, that spurred the spread of the attack through a network of connected computers. This article goes through the four stages of a cyberattack: 1) Identifying Vulnerabilities, 2) Scanning and Testing, 3) Gaining Access, and 4) Maintaining Access. Acute skills and thorough knowledge about networks and systems is the fundamental basis to even understand what these stages mean. A lot of cyberattacks occur after new releases of software when vulnerabilities can be exploited. Many new tactics such as switching type of malware during an attack, impersonating legitimate entities such as Dropbox emails, and more, are being employed to find someway around existing securities. Keywords: Cyberattack, strategy, hackers, hacking, tactics, education