Types of security threats
A security threat involves the abuse of system services. Security Threats are often also used as a medium to launch program threats.
Various types of security threats are as follows:
- Worm
A worm is an infection program that spreads through the networks. A worm usually targets LANs. The computer that has been attacked by a worm targets a system and writes a small program known as “hook” on it. This hook then helps copy the worm to the target system, this process is repeated till all the systems of the LAN are affected.
The worm makes copies of itself, hence using up the majority of the system resources and locking out other processes.
- Denial of service
Unlike other attacks that are used for destruction, this attack is mainly used to disrupt the user from using the system. Denial of service is usually of two kinds:
- The number of system resources is so many that no useful work can be performed.
- Disrupting the network of the facility.
- Port Scanning
Port Scanning helps the cracker identify the vulnerabilities of the system. It is an automated process and involves creating a TCP/IP connection to a specific port, and to protect the identity of the attacker they use Zombie Systems.
Zombie Systems are systems that were previously independent systems that are still serving their owners while being used for notorious purposes.
Types of security threats