A malware attack is the introduction of malicious software to infiltrate and execute unauthorized commands on the victim's system without the victim's knowledge.
The goals of such an attack can be different:
stealing customer information to sell as a source of leads;
obtaining system information for personal gain;
disabling the site to stop business;
placing the stolen data of the victim in the public domain.
Typically, cyberattacks are carried out by disgruntled laid-off employees , rival businesses, or cyberterrorist groups.
In this article, we'll explain how cyberattacks work, explain the importance of prioritizing attack protection, and explain how to recover systems after an attack.
How do malware attacks work?
A cyberattack occurs when an attacker places their malicious code on the Internet and tries to infect as many sites as possible.
Types of Malicious Attacks
Malware attacks can manifest as viruses, worms, Trojans, adware, or ransomware.
Typically, malware can be divided into 2 categories:
Programs whose purpose is to disrupt system processes.
To do this, a cybercriminal can overload system resources to prevent them from completing.
Also, a hacker can infiltrate system code and add an "extra step" to a specific system process so that it can intercept data in transit.
Most malware falls into this category and is easy to recover from.
Programs whose purpose is the complete destruction of system processes.
Data on a vulnerable system can be deleted or corrupted beyond recovery, such as if a wiper attack occurs .
After the threat is identified and removed, the damage still remains.
The only way to fully recover from this type of attack is to restore your system from a backup.
Signs of a malware attack
There are several important factors that indicate that your site has been compromised by malware.
When visiting your site, the browser redirects to unfamiliar or advertising sites;
Loading on your web pages is initiated automatically;
Your site is being blocked by search engines;
Customers complain about payment card fraud after purchasing from your online store;
The site contains spam or unwanted advertising;
Phishing pages hosted on your domain ;
There are new errors and warnings in the site control panel;
The ad blocker rejects ads due to malware or unwanted software.
If your website exhibits any of these signs, you should investigate as soon as possible to mitigate the risk and mitigate the damage.
How do you know if a site has been cyberattacked?
Some malware attacks are obvious and are accompanied by ads that suddenly appear in the site header or a message from a hacker that the site has been hacked.
However, most malware attacks are designed to hide and live inside the system. Because of this, malware may not show up at all.
Even if the site shows no signs of infection, it is recommended that you regularly scan for possible intrusions.
There are two effective ways to scan a website or web application for malware:
Remote site scanning. This is the fastest way to scan your website environment for malware as the system surface interacts with it to detect any obvious signs of an attack.
Server scan. Works slower than remote scanning, but more thorough. Every file on the system is checked to find any malware hiding in the code.
Because many types of malware lurk on the server and may not be detected, this is especially useful for detecting malicious PHP scripts, phishing, and website backdoors.
How to respond to malware
If malware is found on the system, immediate action must be taken to eliminate it to minimize damage. In addition, special attention must be paid to the prevention of future attacks.
It is not enough to simply remove malware. Strong security measures must be installed to prevent re-infection.
Earlier, we talked about plugins to improve the security of sites on WordPress , which powers more than a third of the sites on the Internet.
How to prevent website attacks
There are a number of key steps to prevent cyber attacks:
Use strong unique passwords for each account;
Use the principle of least privilege ;
Always keep your website and CMS up to date with the latest patches;
Use a web application firewall to protect against brute force attacks , bots, and DDoS attacks .
Regularly scan the site for indicators of compromise (Indicator of Compromise, IOC);
Do not store the site in environments with other websites that have write access to each other.
Always use multi-factor or two-factor authentication in the admin panel.