Active Attack

An Active Attack is a network exploit where hackers strive to change or exfiltrate data on the target’s network or device. There are several different types of active attacks or ways hackers can exploit your systems. An active attack is where the hacker is actively working to exploit the victim and edit/exfiltrate data and the victim is typically aware of the threat. Active attacks are different from ‘passive attacks’, where hackers typically are not known in the systems by the victim and are simply viewing all of the data passing through the network. Passive attacks are mostly threats to the confidentiality of data, where active attacks are attacks on integrity and availability. 

What Does This Mean for my SMB?

In order to protect against active and passive attacks, it’s vital that you have some sort of Antivirus/Antimalware solution in place to help reduce the likelihood of exploitation. CyberHoot also recommends the following best practices to protect individuals and businesses against, and limit damages from, online cyber attacks:

• Adopt two-factor authentication on all critical Internet-accessible services
• Adopt a password manager for better personal/work password hygiene
• Require 14+ character Passwords in your Governance Policies
• Follow a 3-2-1 backup method for all critical and sensitive data
• Train employees to spot and avoid email-based phishing attacks
• Check that employees can spot and avoid phishing emails by testing them
• Document and test Business Continuity Disaster Recovery (BCDR) plans
• Perform a risk assessment every two to three years

Start building your robust, defense-in-depth cybersecurity plan today with CyberHoot

To learn more about Active Attacks, watch this short video:

Sources: TechTarget, YouTube

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