Cyberattacks: A Detailed Guide
This guide provides an overview of the different types of cyberattacks, grouped into categories with
detailed examples. Understanding these attacks helps in strengthening defenses and recognizing
threats in real-world scenarios.
Malware Attacks
• Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Ransomware, Spyware, Adware, Rootkits, Keyloggers, Logic Bombs,
Fileless Malware
Phishing & Social Engineering
• Phishing, Spear Phishing, Whaling, Smishing, Vishing, Business Email Compromise (BEC),
Pretexting, Baiting, Quid pro quo
Denial-of-Service (DoS) & Distributed DoS (DDoS)
• Volumetric attacks (flood bandwidth), Protocol attacks (SYN flood, Ping of Death), Application-layer
attacks (HTTP floods, Slowloris)
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM)
• Eavesdropping, Session hijacking, SSL stripping, IP spoofing, DNS spoofing
Injection Attacks
• SQL Injection, Command Injection, Code Injection, LDAP Injection, XML Injection, Cross-Site
Scripting (XSS)
Password Attacks
• Brute Force, Dictionary Attack, Credential Stuffing, Password Spraying, Rainbow Table Attack,
Keylogging
Web Application Attacks
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), Directory Traversal, Clickjacking,
Session Fixation, Broken Authentication
Supply Chain Attacks
• Software Supply Chain Compromise (e.g., SolarWinds), Hardware Backdoors, Dependency
Hijacking
Insider Threats
• Malicious Insiders, Careless Insiders, Compromised Insiders
Advanced Persistent Threats (APT)
• Stealthy multi-stage attacks: reconnaissance, intrusion, lateral movement, data exfiltration
Zero-Day Exploits
• Exploiting unknown vulnerabilities before patches exist
Physical Attacks
• Evil maid attacks, ATM skimming, Hardware keyloggers, BadUSB attacks
Cryptographic Attacks
• Birthday Attack, Collision Attack, Side-channel Attack, Padding Oracle Attack, Downgrade Attack
IoT & Emerging Tech Attacks
• Botnets (e.g., Mirai), Smart Device Hijacking, Car Hacking, Medical Device Attacks
