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6.1.2. Common Threats
| Threat Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Malware | Viruses, worms, ransomware, trojans |
| Phishing | Social engineering via email/web |
| DDoS | Overwhelm resources with traffic; reflection/amplification variants spoof the victim's IP so open DNS or NTP servers send it large replies |
| Man-in-the-Middle | Intercept and modify communications |
| Password attacks | Brute force, dictionary, credential stuffing |
| Other social engineering | Pretexting (an invented story to extract information), tailgating (following an authorized person through a secured door), vishing—all target human trust, not a technical flaw |
| Layer 2 attacks | MAC flooding, ARP spoofing, rogue DHCP—launched from inside the VLAN (see 6.7) |
| Malware C2 beaconing | An infected host "checks in" with the attacker's command-and-control server at regular intervals, often as DNS lookups, whether or not anyone is using it |
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Written byAlvin Varughese
Founder•20 professional certifications