Cyber Threats Facing Businesses – Sniffing Attacks and Session Hijacking

Cyber Threats Facing Businesses – Sniffing Attacks and Session Hijacking

In this digital era, businesses like flooring sales and installation companies can face cyber threats from hackers. These threats can disrupt operations or even cause financial losses. Therefore, it is important to understand the different kinds of threats that can be posed to a company and how appropriate countermeasures can be implemented to safeguard the business.

Sniffing Attacks

Sniffing attacks refer to when hackers intercept and monitor network traffic to obtain sensitive information (GlĂVan et al., 2020). The sensitive information includes financial details, login credentials, and other confidential data. Packet sniffers are used by hackers to capture data packets transmitted over a network. The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) that ensures reliable data transfer between devices is a protocol vulnerable to sniffing attacks. This is because it does not encrypt data making it accessible to hackers. To counter sniffing attacks, encryption protocols such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) can be implemented on the network. Virtual private networks can also be used to safeguard data transmission.

Session Hijacking

Session hijacking occurs when a hacker takes control of an active session between a user and a server. By hijacking the session, the attacker can perform actions on behalf of the user or even steal sensitive information (Muzammil et al., 2024). An example of a specific threat is when an attacker tries to gain unauthorized access to a customer account on a website. When a customer is logged in the attacker takes control of their session ID and accesses their account and makes unauthorized changes or steals personal information. To protect against session hijacking, secure session management practices like setting session timeouts can be implemented.

Spoofing

Spoofing refers to impersonating a user or device to gain unauthorized access to a system. An example of a specific threat from spoofing is email spoofing where customers receive fake emails claiming to be from a company requesting for sensitive information such as passwords. To counter spoofing attacks, users can be educated on the risks of spoofing and also implement email authentication protocols.

Poisoning Attacks

Poisoning attacks occur when hackers manipulate data in a network or system to compromise its functionality. An example of a poison attack could be injecting false records on a company’s inventory system causing incorrect information that may lead to losses. Employing data validation procedures, keeping a close eye on network traffic, and using a secure DNS resolver are ways to defend against poisoning attacks.

Denial-of-service (DoS)

Denial-of-service (DoS) occurs when hackers flood a network or system with traffic to make it unavailable for users. Dos attacks are a threat as they disrupt business operations leading to loss of sales and huge financial losses. Implementing network traffic monitoring for odd patterns, blocking IP addresses from sending unusual traffic, and utilizing cloud service providers like Cloudflare are some ways of countering DoS assaults.

References

GlĂVan, D., RĂCuciu, C., Moinescu, R., & Eftimie, S. (2020). Sniffing attacks on computer networks. Scientific Bulletin of Naval Academy, 23(1), 202–207. https://doi.org/10.21279/1454-864X-20-I1-027

Muzammil, M. Bin, Bilal, M., Ajmal, S., Shongwe, S. C., & Ghadi, Y. Y. (2024). Unveiling Vulnerabilities of Web Attacks Considering Man in the Middle Attack and Session Hijacking. IEEE Access, 12, 6365–6375. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3350444

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This week, your flooring sales and installation company client wants you to explain the different kinds of attack threats their business faces from hackers.

Write a 1- to 2-page paper that summarizes attack threats from hackers to any business, including the following:

Describe sniffing attacks, identify a protocol that is vulnerable to sniffing, and suggest appropriate countermeasures.

Cyber Threats Facing Businesses – Sniffing Attacks and Session Hijacking

Describe session hijacking, provide an example of a specific threat from session hijacking, and recommend appropriate countermeasures for the threat.
Describe spoofing, provide an example of a specific threat from spoofing, and recommend appropriate countermeasures for the threat.
Describe poisoning attacks, provide an example of a specific threat from a poisoning attack, and recommend appropriate countermeasures for the threat.
Describe denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, explain the threat from DoS attacks, and recommend countermeasures that can prevent them.