1.     Social Engineering

A hack focusing on people rather than technology. Social engineering seeks to use knowledge of one’s life and habits to gain trust or exploit vulnerabilities. Also known as Misdirected Fraud Payment.

2.     Encryption

Encryption is used to secure data so that it cannot be stolen or altered. It scrambles the information so that only authorized individuals and computer systems can access it. Encryption helps to protect sensitive information such as passwords, banking information and personal information, and keep such details safe from cyber criminals.

3.     Phishing

Phishing is a social engineering attack which attempts to collect information from victims, including bank account numbers, Social Insurance Numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, or other personally identifying information. Such information can be sold or used to commit identity theft. The cyber criminal often pretends to be a trustworthy business or acquaintance.

4.     Malware

Malware is code written for the purpose of causing harm, disclosing information, or violating security.  Examples include viruses and worms.

5.     Ransomware

Ransomware is a form of malware which holds a victim’s data hostage on their own computer, typically through robust encryption. The cyber criminal tells the victim they will unlock or decrypt their data or systems if the victim pays a ransom, often in cryptocurrency. Paying the cyber criminal does not always mean the victim will be given access to their computer or files again, but desperate individuals may pay if it is the quickest way to get their systems up and running again.

6.     DDoS attack

A DDoS attack attempts to halt access to any resource by using multiple computers to overload a computer, server or network.  Users cannot access the server or website once it is down and it can be very expensive for the organization to get it functioning again.

7.     Cyber attack

A cyber attack is the unauthorized access of a device, network, or computer system which leads to an interruption, manipulation, or destruction of information, computer software or other data.

8.     Cyber event

A cyber event is a confirmed or suspected unauthorized access to a computer system, electronic attack or privacy breach. All cyber attacks are cyber events, but not all cyber events are cyber attacks.

9.     Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

Multi-factor authentication is a security measure which protects individuals by requiring users to provide two or more authentication factors to access an application, account, or virtual portal. Examples include email and SMS text verification.

10.     Keylogger

A keylogger is a type of malicious software or other eavesdropping measure used to record the victim’s keystrokes to help criminals access login credentials or sensitive personal data.