Attack

What Does Attack Mean?

An attack is an information security threat that involves an attempt to obtain, alter, destroy, remove, implant or reveal information without authorized access or permission. It happens to both individuals and organizations. There are many different kinds of attacks, including but not limited to passive, active, targeted, clickjacking, brandjacking, botnet, phishing, spamming, inside and outside.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains Attack

An attack is one of the biggest security threats in information technology, and it comes in different forms. A passive attack is one that does not affect any system, although information is obtained. A good example of this is wiretapping. An active attack has the potential to cause major damage to an individual’s or organization’s resource because it attempts to alter system resources or affect how they work. A good example of this might be a virus or other type of malware.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Latest Cybersecurity Terms

Related Reading

Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…