{"id":19870,"date":"2021-08-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=19870"},"modified":"2021-08-16T07:43:23","modified_gmt":"2021-08-16T06:43:23","slug":"the-six-major-type-of-cyber-security-incidents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/the-six-major-type-of-cyber-security-incidents\/","title":{"rendered":"The six major \u2018type\u2019 of cyber security incidents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the sophistication and severity of cyber-attacks\/breaches continue to intensify, cybersecurity has now rightfully become a major issue at the forefront of the public eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in cyber security, Reboot Online Marketing<\/a><\/strong> analysed the latest data from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)<\/a><\/strong> to establish which type of major cyber security incidents were reported to them the most from April 2020 to March 2021 (2020\/21). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The six major \u2018type\u2019 of cybersecurity incidents included: phishing, unauthorised access, ransomware, malware, hardware\/software misconfiguration and brute force. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Analysis of the results from the research<\/strong>Reboot Online Marketing found that the ICO received 907 reports of phishing between April 2020 to March 2021 \u2013 the equivalent of two phishing incidents a day! Compared to April 2019 to March 2020, it represents 21% drop in year-on-year phishing incidents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In second place there were 562 cases of unauthorised access brought to light to the ICO from April 2020 to March 2021. Despite this, it was a 6% fall from April 2019 \u2013 March 2020, where there were 597 incidences of unauthorised access. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware was the cybersecurity incident which experienced the biggest year-on-year increase at 215%. In 2020\/21 there were a total of 504 cases reported to the ICO in contrast to the 160 the year before (2019\/20). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malware (127) and hardware\/software misconfiguration (87) are among the other major cyber security incident types that were made aware to the ICO over 80 individual times each during 2020\/21, respectively ranking fourth and fifth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the other end in sixth place is brute force, as the ICO were alerted of 62 occurrences of the cryptography-centric attack in 2020\/21. Alarmingly, it symbolises a 77% increase in brute force attacks when shadowed against 2019\/20, when 35 incidents were recorded by the ICO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, when combining the figures together for the six categories, there were a grand total of 2,249 major cybersecurity incidents reported to the ICO in 2020\/21.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major cybersecurity incident types explained<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is phishing? <\/strong>Phishing is a cybercrime where deceptive emails and\/or websites are used by opportunistic cyber criminals to trick targets into handing over their personal data\/information such as banking details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is unauthorised access?<\/strong> Unauthorised access is when a cybercriminal gains unauthorised access to a computer network, server, program, website, or system using someone else\u2019s account\/login credentials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is malware?<\/strong> Malware is any software designed by a cybercriminal to intentionally cause damage to a computer network, server, program, website, or system. The malicious software can perform a wide variety of functions such as stealing, encrypting, or deleting sensitive data as well as monitoring a target\u2019s computer activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is ransomware? <\/strong>A form of malware, a ransomware attack by a cybercriminal encrypts a victim\u2019s files. To restore access to the data, the victim must meet the payment demands of the cybercriminal, hence being held to ransom.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is hardware\/software misconfiguration? <\/strong>Hardware\/software misconfiguration is a failure to adequately implement all the security controls of a piece of hardware or software. Alternatively, implementing the security controls, but doing so with errors. In either scenario, potentially leaving sensitive data at the risk of being exploited by cybercriminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is brute force? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A brute force attack is when a cybercriminal uses a trial-and-error process to guess login information. An attacker tries as many passwords or passphrases as possible in the hope they will eventually identify the correct one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Methodology for the research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n