Cyber Security
🔒 Log in to trackCyber attacks and social engineering
🔒 Log in to track| Attack | How it works |
|---|---|
| Phishing | Fake e-mail/site mimicking a bank or service to harvest credentials |
| Spear phishing | Phishing targeted at one person/organisation |
| Vishing / Smishing | Phishing by Voice calls / SMS |
| Pharming | Redirects users to fake sites by poisoning DNS/host files - no click needed |
| DoS / DDoS | Flooding a server with traffic; DDoS = Distributed, from a botnet of many machines |
| Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) | Attacker secretly intercepts/relays communication between two parties (open Wi-Fi sniffing) |
| SQL Injection | Malicious SQL typed into input fields to manipulate the database |
| Brute force / Dictionary | Trying every possible password / a wordlist of likely passwords |
| Social engineering | Manipulating humans (urgency, authority) - the 'human hacking' umbrella |
| Spoofing | Faking an identity: e-mail, IP, caller ID, website |
| Sniffing/Eavesdropping | Passive capture of network traffic |
| Identity theft | Stealing personal data to impersonate (Sec 66C IT Act) |
| Website defacement | Replacing a site's content (electronic vandalism) |
| Salami attack | Stealing tiny amounts (rounding offs) that accumulate large |
| Zero-day | Attack through a vulnerability the vendor has not yet patched |
Attacks on people and systems
Beyond malware, exams list named attacks — methods of cheating users or breaking services. Group them by target.
Attacks that target SERVICES
- DoS (Denial of Service): flooding a server with useless requests so genuine users are shut out.
- DDoS (Distributed DoS): the flood comes from many machines at once, usually a botnet.
- Man-in-the-Middle (MITM): the attacker secretly sits between two parties, reading or altering what they exchange (e.g. on open Wi-Fi).
Classic named attacks from exam history
| Attack | Trick |
|---|---|
| Salami slicing/salami attack | stealing tiny amounts from very many accounts — paise shaved off, hard to notice |
| Data diddling | changing data before or during entry into the system (false figures) |
| Logic bomb | malicious code that sleeps until a trigger — a date or event — then detonates |
| SQL injection | typing database commands into a web form's input box to read the database |
| Brute force | trying every possible password combination until one works |
| Eavesdropping | passively listening to data as it travels |
Telling the twins apart
Phishing asks the user to hand over data; pharming needs no user mistake — the address itself is hijacked. DoS asks nothing of users — it drowns the server. MITM does not flood or fake a site — it listens in the middle of a real conversation. Salami steals small and often; data diddling alters records; a logic bomb waits for its trigger.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Phishing family (mail, voice, SMS, pharming)
A fake-bank-mail / fake-call / fake-SMS / correct-URL-fake-site scenario asking for the attack's name, or 'vishing/smishing mean ___'.
Bait by e-mail or fake site = Phishing; by phone call = Vishing; by SMS = Smishing.
Correct URL still lands on a fake site = Pharming (address hijacked, no user mistake).
Aimed at ONE chosen person = Spear phishing. All are social engineering — attacking the person, not the machine.
A caller claiming to be from the bank asks for the OTP sent to Meena's phone. This fraud is:
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Vishing — voice phishing; a real bank never asks for OTPs.
DoS, DDoS and botnet floods
'Server is flooded with requests and genuine users are shut out', 'attack from thousands of machines at once'.
Flood from one source = DoS; from many machines at once (usually a botnet) = DDoS.
The aim is denial of service, not data theft — the service drowns.
DDoS question almost always names 'distributed/thousands of computers' — that word IS the answer key.
A shopping site crashes as thousands of hijacked machines hammer it with fake requests together. This is:
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DDoS — Distributed Denial of Service; 'distributed' = many sources at once.
Man-in-the-Middle and eavesdropping
'Communication between A and B is read/changed by a hidden third party', risks of open public Wi-Fi.
MITM = attacker sits silently between two parties, reading or altering the exchange — neither side notices.
Classic setting: open public Wi-Fi without encryption.
Defence: encrypted connections (HTTPS/VPN) — the middle man sees only ciphertext.
On free airport Wi-Fi, an attacker secretly reads the data exchange between Amit and the site he is using. This attack is:
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Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) — the hidden listener between two ends.
Classic named attacks (salami, diddling, logic bomb, SQLi)
'Tiny amounts stolen from many accounts', 'records changed during entry', 'code that waits for a date', 'commands typed into a login box'.
Salami attack = many tiny thefts (paise from lakhs of accounts).
Data diddling = data changed before/during entry.
Logic bomb = sleeps until a trigger (date/event).
SQL injection = database commands typed into a web form; Brute force = trying every password.
A bank clerk's program quietly takes one rupee from thousands of accounts into his own. This is a:
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Salami attack — slicing tiny amounts off very many accounts.
Shortcuts that save time
Phishing = fake mail/site; Vishing = Voice; SMishing = SMS; Pharming = fake site with NO click (DNS poisoned). If the victim 'entered a real-looking site without clicking any link', think pharming.
A fake banking site reached via a corrupted DNS entry is?
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Pharming.
Man-in-the-Middle: both parties think they talk to each other; the attacker relays (and reads/edits) everything - classic on open Wi-Fi. Pure listening without relaying = sniffing.
Attacker secretly relaying messages between a user and the bank is?
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Man-in-the-Middle attack.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Confusing pharming with phishing - pharming needs no victim click; DNS is poisoned.
Calling DDoS a single-machine attack - the D means distributed (botnet).
Believing strong passwords alone stop phishing - awareness + 2FA are needed; no password resists a fake site.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Phishing = mail bait; Vishing = voice; Smishing = SMS; Pharming = fake site despite correct URL.
DoS/DDoS = flood the server (DDoS from a botnet); MITM = listen between two parties.
Salami = tiny thefts, many accounts; Logic bomb = waits for a trigger; SQL injection = commands in a form.
Social engineering = attacking the person, not the machine.
Practice: 20 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 10 questions
Suggested time 5 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.