September 3, 2024

Cyberattacks strike businesses every day as people try to benefit from vulnerable business systems, and your dental practice is a prime target. Attacks can range from an email offering the opportunity to make a ton of money by simply providing your bank account number to malicious code that may lay dormant on a network for months or years before initiating a data breach. The more you and your employees know about the different types of cyberattacks, the better prepared you’ll be to prevent and respond to them. Beware of the following most common types of attacks.

Malware is software code that is written specifically to harm a computer system, including spyware, ransomware, viruses and worms. Malware typically breaches a network when a user clicks a link or opens an email attachment, causing dangerous software to be installed on the system. Once installed, malware can: block or disrupt access to the network, rendering it inoperable until a ransom is paid (ransomware); obtain sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and other personal data, and transmit the same to the attacker without the user’s knowledge (spyware); and/or install additional harmful software on the system that spreads to other devices connected to the network (worms). When you’re connected to the internet, a good rule of thumb is not to open or click anything from an unknown source or that you don’t otherwise recognize as being safe.

Phishing is an increasingly common cyberthreat that uses fraudulent communications, including emails, email attachments, text messages and phone calls, with the goal of tricking people into sharing personal data, installing malware or sending money to the attacker. We’ve all received that email from someone claiming to need our help getting their fortune into the country, promising a share of the pie in exchange for our bank account information. Don’t be fooled!

Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks (also known as eavesdropping attacks) occur when attackers intercept and relay messages between two parties and steal data. Systems connected to unsecured wi-fi networks are especially susceptible to these attacks.

Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks overwhelm systems, servers or networks with fraudulent traffic, making them too slow to use or entirely unavailable to legitimate users. In the context of a dental practice, this type of attack can prevent current patients from accessing your website to schedule appointments and potential patients from viewing your website while searching for a new dentist.

A structured query language (SQL) injection occurs when an attacker enters malicious code into a network server, forcing it to allow the attacker access to information that’s normally inaccessible. This allows the attacker to read and modify a database or website data. Picture anytime you’ve seen a character in your favorite movie or TV show hack a government agency or corporation’s network remotely. This is how they did it.

A zero-day exploit is a cyberattack that occurs between the announcement and repair of a network vulnerability. Attackers can take advantage of this window of time to gain access to the vulnerable system. Since this type of attack requires knowledge of a particular vulnerability, keeping your network issues confidential should help fend off attackers.

Questions or comments? Please contact us at (646) 213-9044 or Admin@AndrieuxLaw.com.