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CatherineSarte
ProfessorYongwen
BUSA345
22November2015
InformationonCyberAttacks
Cyberattacksarebecomingaproblemthatwilljustgetworsewithinthenextfewyears.
Itisimportanttoknowwhoisgettingattacked,howtheattacksaretakingplace,andthe
motivationbehindtheattackers.ThewebsiteHackmageddonshowsthelateststatisticsoncyber
attacksforOctober2015.Theyshowandupdatetheirstatisticseverymonthtodisplaythe
percentages.Hackmageddonprovidesusersinformationonthethreemotivationsbehindcyber
attacks,thethreemaincyberattacktechniques,andthethreetypesoforganizationshackers
target.

Motivationbehindtheattacksisvaried.Thethreemainmotivationsbehindcyberattacks

arecybercrime,cyberhacktivism,andcyberespionage.Cybercrimeisthemostprevalentform
ofcyberattacks.Cybercrimesaredesignedtogeneratemoneyandusuallytargetconsumerdata.
Severalmainretailchainshavebeenstruckinthelastyear,takinginformationrangingfrom
emailaddressestocreditanddebitcardinformation.Thesecondmostcommontypeofcyber
attackiscyberhacktivism.Hacktivistsarepeoplewhoseactivityistoaimtoaddressasocialor
politicalmessagebyhackingwebsites,computernetworks,oranyothertechnologymeans.The
mostnotedhacktivistgroupisAnonymousandhasbeenresponsibleformanytypesofattacks
ongovernments,corporations,andlatelyterroristorganizationsthatviolatepeopleshuman
rightsandfreedomsofspeech.Thelastmainmotivationbehindcyberattacksiscyberespionage.
Cyberespionageistheuseofdigitalmeanstoattaininformationaboutanadvisory.TheGauss
viruswasfoundonmanycomputersofthoseinthemiddleeastasaneavesdroppingsoftware
thatcopiedfinancialinformation.Itisspeculatedthatthesameteamthatcreatedtheprevious
StuxnetvirusweretheteamthatcreatedGauss.Motivationwasthefirstfactortoexaminewith
cyberattacks,thetypesofattacksthathackmageddonmonitorsarevast.

Therearedozensoftypesofcyberattacksbutthethreemostprevalentattacksthat

hackmageddonmonitoredforOctoberwereBitcoinmalleabilityattacks,electronicdevices


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attacks,anddefacementattacks.BitcoinmalleabilityattackswhichwillduplicateaBitcoin
transactionsoitappearstothenetworkasmoretradeactivitythanisactuallytakingplace.The
duplicateiseventuallydeletedfromthesystembutthiscanslowdowntransactions,makingita
nuisanceforitsusersandcanaffectBitcoin'svalueinthemarket.Thesecondmostprevalent
attackinOctoberwaselectronicdeviceattacks.Theseattacksare/targetforthepurposeofwhat?
Thefinalmostprevalentattacksweredefacementattacks.Defacementattackstargetanentity
webpageandchangeinformationthatispresentedonit.Defacementiscantargetreligious
entities,government,orcorporations.Defacementisoftenatoolusedbyhacktiviststryingto
spreadtheirmessages.Whattypesofattacksthathappenwasthesecondfactorexplored,the
finaliswhoisgettingtargeted.

Withallthedifferentmotivationsthatarebehindtheseattacksitisalsoimportanttolook

atwhoisgettingattacked.Hackmageddonreportedthatthethreeprimaryentitiesthatwere
targetedinOctoberforcyberattackswereindustry,government,andBitcoinexchanges.Nearly
38%ofallcyberattacksforOctoberwerefortheindustrysector,suchasenergyproducers,
watertreatmentplantsetc.Itisnotalwaysthegoalofhackertocausepermanentdamagetothe
productorservicesbutputenoughofakinkinproductiontocauseanincreaseinproduction
cost.Over21%ofattacksweredirectedatBitcoinexchangeswhichcoincideswithBitcoin
Malleabilityattacks.Bitcoinisabigticketitemforinvestorsandaripetargetforhackers.The
finalmostcommonlyattackedentitywasgovernmentnetworksatover18%.Government
networksarevaluableassetstohackersbecausetheycancontainsomuchinformationonits
citizens,governmentemployees,tradedeals,andeveninformationregardingdiplomaticties.
Peopleshouldtaketimetounderstandtherisksrelatedtoimpropercybersecurityand
learnpotentialproblemstotakeextrastepsintosecuringtheirinformations.Peopleshould
considertheiractionsonlinethatcouldimpactthemselves,theirfriends,family,andotherpeople
aroundthem.MeganLeonhardtfromWealthManagementmentionedthatItsnolongerjust
preventingandmitigatingcyberriskitsaboutmanagingit.Thatiswhyitisimportantto
collectinformationregardingcyberattacks.Manycompanieshelpcollectanddisseminatethis
informationincludingHackmageddon.Hackmageddonreportedtoitsusersinformationonthe


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threemotivationsbehindcyberattacks,thethreemaincyberattacktechniques,andthethree
typesoforganizationshackerstarget.


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WorksCited
Karisny,Larry."Cybersecurity:AMillisecondDefense."
Cybersecurity:AMillisecondDefense
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12Nov.2015.Web.19Nov.2015.
Leonhardt,Megan."CyberAttacksOnlyGoingtoGetWorse."
CyberAttacksOnlyGoingtoGet
Worse
.10Nov.2015.Web.19Nov.2015.
Passeri,Paolo.October2015CyberAttacksStatistics.HACKMAGEDDON.9Nov.2015.
Web.19Nov.2015.
Regan,Michael."CanTechInvestmentsStopHackers?"
TheChristianScienceMonitor
.18Nov.
2015.Web.20Nov.2015.
Shiff,Reuven."CyberThreatsShouldBeaStrategicIssueforEveryManager."
TheJerusalem
Post
.7Sept.2015.Web.19Nov.2015.