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Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common, with many businesses falling victim to these attacks every year. Cyber attacks can cause significant damage to your company’s data and systems, as well as putting you at risk of having your business taken offline. Therefore, cyber security is a very important issue for all companies that handle sensitive information online or have connected devices on their networks, which is pretty much the vast majority of organisations in business. So what should you look out for if you think your business might be under attack? In this article, we will cover some signs that could potentially indicate your company has been attacked by hackers.

 

 

What is a cyber attack?

A cyber attack is any attempt to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorised access to a computer system or network. It can be carried out by a single person or a group aimed at any computer connected to the Internet – either through a direct attack or by exploiting vulnerabilities in software. Cyber attacks can be difficult to detect and prevent because they often involve highly sophisticated methods that mask their true intent. However, with today’s technology, there are ways you can safeguard your business from these attacks, such as with antivirus software, firewalls, and malware detection systems.

 

There are many different types of cyber attacks, but the most common ones include:

  • Malware
  • Phishing
  • SQL injection attack
  • Cross-site scripting (XXS)
  • Denial-of-service (DoS)
  • Session hijacking
  • Smurf attack
  • Password attack
  • Birthday attack
  • Eavesdropping attack

 

Signs of a cyber attack to watch out for

 

Slow connections

If you’re noticing your computer is slow and laggy, and are trying to delete programs and run a disk management program to no avail, you may be experiencing a cyber attack. In this case, it has most likely occurred due to malware allowing hackers to infiltrate your computer system.

 

Pop-ups

Unexpected pop-ups are another indication that your computer system has become part of a botnet. Especially when you haven’t clicked on anything and are experiencing random windows pop up, the cyber hacker is most likely using your computer to click links on other sites. You may also encounter sudden crashes, which you don’t normally experience.

 

Unusual computer behaviour

If you’re finding your computer is behaving abnormal and are encountering changed passwords and security settings, unauthorised software installs, and unusual mouse movements, your network has most likely been compromised. This indicates you’ve been hacked or there is a virus attack.

 

Unknown programs running

A great way to check if there has been a security breach is to check Task Manager or Activity Monitor and see if any unusual processes are running in the background. These malware programs usually have cryptic names and should be further investigated to confirm a breach. The programs can also sometimes overheat your computers as they utilise the CPU and other resources more than your usual programs.

 

Inability to update computer

Malware will usually restrict users from downloading updates that will protect their operating system so if you can’t access your anti-virus website or are having trouble updating, you’re probably being cyber attacked.

 

Phishing

This one is quite an obvious indication of a compromised computer. If your computer is sending out phishing emails to other employees directing recipients to unusual links, this has been orchestrated by a hacker and may end up exposing private information or infecting your computer, so you should react quickly. In this situation, your organisation should watch out for unusual behaviour and investigate by checking the URL and domain name from which fishy emails have been sent.

 

Protect your business from cyber attacks with FraudWatch

Take the first step to safeguard your business from cyber attacks by contacting the team at FraudWatch today.