Definitions and Prevalence of Cyberattacks
- Cyberattacks have evolved over time, using innovations in information technology.
- The World Economic Forum has observed that offensive cyber capabilities are developing faster than our ability to deal with hostile incidents.
- The Internet Engineering Task Force defines a cyberattack as an intelligent act that deliberately attempts to evade security services and violate the security policy of a system.
- CNSS Instruction No. 4009 defines an attack as any malicious activity that aims to collect, disrupt, deny, degrade, or destroy information system resources or the information itself.
- The increasing dependency on information and computer networks has led to terms like cyber attack and cyber warfare.
- In the first six months of 2017, two billion data records were stolen or impacted by cyberattacks.
- Cyberattacks have increased in scale and robustness.
- The increasing use of technology in cars has made them vulnerable to cyber attacks.
- Cyberattacks can target both private and public sectors, including the military.
- The prevalence of cyberattacks highlights the need for effective cybersecurity measures.

Types of Cyberattacks
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a well-known example of cyberattacks.
- Spyware can be installed on personal computers to steal information.
- Cyberattacks can aim to destroy the infrastructure of entire nations.
- Unauthorised access attempts to gain entry to restricted areas of a system.
- Cyberattacks can alter or destroy specified targets by hacking into vulnerable networks or systems.

Cyberattack Actors
- Cyberattacks can be employed by sovereign states, individuals, groups, societies, or organizations.
- Cyberattacks may originate from anonymous sources.
- Attackers attempt to access data, functions, or restricted areas of a system without authorization.
- Some cyberattacks are part of cyber warfare or cyberterrorism.
- The term cyber weapon is used to describe a product that facilitates a cyberattack.

Impact and Mitigation of Cyberattacks
- Cyberattacks have become increasingly sophisticated, hazardous, and expensive to recover from.
- User behavior analytics and Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) can help prevent cyberattacks.
- Legal experts aim to limit the use of the term cyberattack to incidents causing physical damage.
- The impact of cyberattacks extends beyond data breaches and hacking activities.
- Effective cybersecurity measures are crucial in mitigating the risks posed by cyberattacks.