What types of network attacks are there?

#Main types of network attacks

#1. Attacks on availability (DoS / DDoS)

Goal: make a service or network unavailable.

How it works: the attacker overloads the server with a large number of requests.

Examples:

• DoS (a single source)
• DDoS (many sources)

Violates: Availability

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#2. Attacks on data interception

Goal: covertly obtain information transmitted over the network.

How it works: the attacker "listens" to network traffic.

Examples:

• Sniffing (traffic eavesdropping)
• Man-in-the-Middle (MITM)

Violates: Confidentiality

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#3. Data tampering attacks

Goal: change or forge data on the network.

Examples:

• ARP spoofing
• IP spoofing
• DNS spoofing

Violates: Integrity

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#4. Attacks on authentication

Goal: obtain someone else's credentials.

Examples:

• Brute force (password guessing)
• Password spraying
• Credential stuffing

Weak password policy is often the cause.

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#5. Attacks on network services

Goal: exploit vulnerabilities in services and protocols.

Examples:

• attacks on open ports;
• exploiting server vulnerabilities;
• attacks on FTP, SSH, HTTP and others.

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#6. Insider attacks

Goal: abuse of legitimate access.

Who attacks:

• employees;
• contractors;
• compromised accounts.

Dangerous because the traffic looks "legitimate."

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#7. Social engineering (network-related)

Goal: deceive the user, not the system.

Examples:

• phishing;
• fake websites;
• malicious emails with links.

Often used as an entry point for network attacks.

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#A handy classification to remember

For the interview, you can say it this way:

• attacks on availability;
• attacks on confidentiality;
• attacks on integrity;
• attacks on authentication;
• insider attacks.