Key Takeaways:

• A cyber attack is a malicious attempt to gain unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, or devices. Such attacks typically aim to steal data, extort money, or disrupt operations and can damage an organization’s confidentiality and integrity.
• Cyber attacks are increasing in volume and complexity – 72% of organizations reported an increase in cyber risks from last year, with ransomware remaining a top concern.
• Common cyber attacks include malware infections, phishing scams, man-in-the-middle eavesdropping, denial-of-service disruptions, SQL injection of databases, and exploits of zero-day software vulnerabilities.
• Defending against modern cyber attacks requires more than reactive measures. Real-time threat intelligence helps organizations see threats early, understand adversaries, and proactively block attacks before they cause harm.

Cyber attacks are deliberate attempts by cybercriminals to breach the information systems of individuals or organizations. The goals of cyber attacks range from stealing sensitive data to extorting money to disrupting business operations.

In recent years, cyber attacks have surged in frequency and severity, affecting organizations of all sizes. This escalation makes cyber defense a top priority for businesses worldwide, as even a single successful attack can lead to severe financial, reputational, and operational damage.

How Do Cyber Attacks Work?

Cyber attacks generally follow a recognizable lifecycle (the MITRE ATT&CK® framework is a commonly used example). While specific attacks vary, most unfold in a series of steps starting with initial planning all the way to final impact:

• Reconnaissance: The attacker researches and identifies a target, gathering information on potential vulnerabilities.
• Weaponization and delivery: The attacker prepares an exploit or malware and delivers it to the target environment.
• Exploitation and installation: Upon delivery, the payload exploits a vulnerability or trick to gain unauthorized access, sometimes leading to the installation of malware or backdoors on the compromised system.
• Command and control: The attacker establishes a command-and-control (C2) channel once inside, allowing for remote control of the compromised system.
• Actions on objectives: The attacker takes actions to achieve their goals, such as exfiltrating data, encrypting files for ransom, disrupting services, or moving laterally to compromise additional systems.

What Are the Most Common Types of Cybersecurity Attacks?

Attackers use a wide variety of methods to penetrate networks and systems. Below are some of the most common types of cyber attacks:

Malware

Malware is malicious software that is designed to harm a computer system or network. Once executed, it can disrupt systems, steal data, or give an attacker control over the infected device.

Common forms include:

• Ransomware – encrypts a victim’s files and demands a monetary ransom for the decryption key
• Spyware – secretly monitors user activity and harvests information without consent
• Trojans – masquerade as legitimate software or hide inside legitimate downloads to trick users into running it
• Worms – spread across networks without user action by self-replicating and exploiting vulnerabilities in connected systems
• Viruses – attach themselves to legitimate files or programs and require user action to spread

Phishing

Phishing is a common social engineering attack that uses deceptive communications to trick people into revealing confidential information. It is also increasingly being used to gain initial access by secretly installing malware that will be used later. Phishing typically involves an attacker impersonating a trusted entity via email, phone (vishing), or text message (smishing) and urging a target to click on a malicious link or divulge passwords.

Common variants include:

• Spear phishing – highly targeted at a specific individual or organization, often using personalized details to appear more convincing
• Whaling – targeted at high-profile executives, such as CEOs, or persons of influence
• Angler phishing – use of fake social media accounts to impersonate brands and trick users into giving up credentials

Man-in-the-Middle (MitM)

Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks occur when an adversary secretly intercepts and relays communications between two parties, typically to eavesdrop or modify the information that is being sent.

Common examples include:

• Public WiFi eavesdropping – an attacker creates or snoops on a free, unsecured WiFi hotspot in a public area, allowing them to monitor all unencrypted traffic and steal sensitive data
• Email hijacking – an attacker intercepts an email between two parties, such as a business and a vendor, modifying it to change sensitive content like bank account details or payment information
• DNS spoofing – an attacker creates a malicious website that mimics a legitimate one and then uses DNS spoofing to make it appear as the correct IP address, redirecting users who are trying to visit the correct site to the fake one

Denial-of-Service (DoS) / Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDos)

Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks occur when an adversary attempts to flood a target system with traffic or requests to the point that normal service is disrupted. Distributed-Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks are a larger-scale variant where the traffic comes from many distributed sources, making the flood even more powerful and difficult to block. The ultimate goal is to make the service unavailable to legitimate users.

Industries often affected by DoS/DDos attacks include:

• Retail – an online retailer’s website is bombarded with millions of fake requests, taking it offline during a critical sales period
• Financial – a bank or financial institution is targeted in order to disrupt online banking, slow down trading, or extort money
• Healthcare – a healthcare provider’s online portal is attacked, causing nuisance-level extortion and blocking medical professionals or patients from accessing critical information

SQL Injection (SQLi)

SQL injection (SQLi) is a technique used to attack data-driven applications by inserting malicious SQL code into database queries. The goal is to gain access to or manipulate the backend database.

Common SQLi scenarios include:

• Bypassing authentication – an attacker bypasses a login page without a valid username or password
• Retrieving hidden data (UNION attack) – an adversary combines the results of a query with those of a malicious one, giving them access to data from other tables in the database
• Modifying or deleting data – if an application allows multiple SQL statements to be executed in a single cell, an attacker can execute administrative commands like dropping tables

Zero-Day Exploit

Zero-day exploit attacks target a previously unknown software vulnerability—meaning no patch or fix exists at the time of the attack. Such exploits are extremely dangerous because defenses are minimal when a flaw is undisclosed. Once the vulnerability is discovered by attackers, they have a “zero-day” window to use it before it gets patched.

Notable examples of previous zero-day exploits include:

• Stuxnet – a sophisticated computer worm that infected industrial control systems to sabotage Iran’s nuclear centrifuges
• Operation Aurora – a series of cyber attacks that targeted the intellectual property and source code of major technology companies, including Google and Adobe
• BlueKeep – a vulnerability in Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services that could allow remote code execution without authentication

Who is Behind Cyber Attacks?

Those who carry out cyber attacks are broadly referred to as threat actors. There are different types of threat actor groups, such as cybercriminals and hacktivists, each with their own distinct motivations and techniques.

The Future of Cyber Attacks

The cyber threat landscape continues to evolve, and security teams must prepare against emerging risks.

Key trends shaping the future of cyber attacks include:

• AI-powered attacks – attackers are beginning to leverage AI and machine learning to create smarter malware schemes and deepfake phishing attempts
• Attacks on IoT and OT – many IoT/OT devices have weak security, making them ripe targets
• Supply chain compromises – by compromising a trusted third-party, attackers can infiltrate many downstream victims in one stroke

Overall, attackers are becoming more persistent and creative, so organizations need to be equally adaptive in their defenses. This means embracing automation and intelligence, fostering collaboration, and planning for both known and unexpected threats.

How Recorded Future Helps You Defend Against Cyber Attacks

Many security teams find themselves reactive—discovering breaches only after damage is done. Traditional defenses, while essential, often struggle to stop novel or highly targeted attacks on their own. Recorded Future’s platform helps organizations anticipate and thwart attacks by:

• Seeing threats before they materialize:
  • Recorded Future’s Intelligence Cloud maps adversary infrastructure as it’s being built, allowing organizations to block malicious domains and IPs before they are used in an attack.
• Understanding the attacker:
  • By providing rich context on who is behind the threats, Recorded Future’s threat intelligence capabilities can turn generic alerts into specific warnings.
• Prioritizing vulnerabilities:
  • Recorded Future correlates vulnerability data with real-world exploitation trends, connecting intelligence to an organization's specific environment.
• Disrupting phishing and malware:
  • By monitoring hacker chatter and malware infrastructure, Recorded Future helps organizations identify high-fidelity indicators, enabling defenses to recognize and stop attack attempts before anyone falls victim.

Knowledge is power, and understanding what cyber attacks are and how they work is the first step to shifting from a defensive, reactive stance to a predictive, intelligence-driven security strategy. With Recorded Future, organizations gain the visibility to anticipate attacks, the context to prioritize resources, and the agility to disrupt attackers’ efforts throughout the cyber attack lifecycle.

See Recorded Future’s intelligence in action—book a demo today.