Reconnaissance
The first stage of any cyberattack is reconnaissance, during which the attacker gathers as much information as possible about the company that has become the target of the hack. The information found is necessary to identify vulnerabilities. The hacker analyzes the company’s website and its information systems, as well as examines how the target interacts with other organizations.
Scanning
Once a weak spot has been found in the target company’s security perimeter that will allow access, the scanning stage begins. This involves using publicly available Internet scanning tools to detect open ports, software vulnerabilities, hardware configuration errors, and other “holes.” This stage can take months, as the search must be careful not to provoke the security service into strengthening its defenses.
Establishing control
In most cases, the goal of an attack is to gain access to protected company resources, such as financial documents or confidential data. Tools such as rainbow tables allow attackers to gain administrator access and enter any information system with elevated privileges, and then gain complete control over the network.
Organizing access
Once a vulnerability has been found and the system has been hacked, it is necessary to ensure access is maintained for as long as it takes to carry out the criminal tasks. The company’s security service is sufficiently qualified to detect the attack, so sooner or later the intrusion will be discovered. No matter how hard a hacker tries to hide their presence, they can be exposed by data transfer operations within the network or to external resources, communication disruptions between the data center and the company network, connections established through non-standard ports, and abnormal server or network operations.
Damage
Not every cyberattack includes this stage. In some cases, the attacker only copies data for resale, for example. However, at this stage, the hacker already has complete control over the company’s network and information systems, which means they are capable of disabling equipment, erasing databases, and shutting down working services, thereby causing enormous material damage and reputational harm.
Covering their tracks
After carrying out an attack, it seems reasonable to delete all information about their presence, but in practice, this is not always the case. Hackers often leave signs of the hack as a signature on their crime, but there is also a more practical goal—to cover their tracks. There are many ways to mislead experts investigating the crime: cleaning and replacing log entries, creating zombie accounts, using Trojan commands, and others.
Combating hacker attacks
Knowing the strategies used by attackers will enable you to detect them at any stage and prevent them in time. Telecommunications operators should not only rely on their experience in building secure networks, but also use special equipment to monitor and prevent intrusions.
According to a Corero study, 62% of respondents involved in network security admit that they would pay hackers to stop a DDoS attack on their company’s resources. Whereas such attacks used to be carried out with the aim of damaging a company’s reputation or stealing data, they have now become a business, like ransomware programs for personal computers.
It could be argued that the protection of corporate information rests entirely on the shoulders of an organization’s internal security service, but if a telecommunications operator or Internet service provider has tools to prevent DDoS attacks, it makes sense to use them.
The Stingray deep traffic analysis system uses real-time traffic monitoring and analysis tools to track anomalies and detect intrusions, as well as organize a set of measures to protect against DDoS attacks. For more detailed information about the advantages of the Stingray Service Gateway, its effective use on telecommunications operator networks, and migration from other platforms, please contact the specialists at VAS Experts.
