Hackers are moving towards automation in order to save time and resources. When an organization is targeted, only a mass attack can collapse it considerably. Hence to perform such mass attacks like phishing, or DDos attacks. we need to automate tasks.
Traditionally it would take a lot of time for a hacker to perform an attack on a target.After a lot of reconnaissance and information gathering,a hacker should decide the kind of attack for which the target is vulnerable to.
After the rise of automation,attackers are free from the traditional time taking tasks and now they can automate a lot of primary phases and they can concentrate on improving their attack strategy very effectively.
Due to these automatic tools,the hacker community has become larger and more people are engaging in cyber crimes just by acquiring knowledge on basic tools.
OSINT
OSINT is one of the free frameworks with which we can gather ample amounts of data without any prior knowledge towards hacking. This shows how much automation has taken over the cyber security field.
The tools used for information gathering has become more efficient and powerful.It is available for free,which makes it even more dangerous.Imagine,a criminal who can use this tool to gather information about you and wait for a perfect time to burgle into your house,Scary! Isn’t it?
Automation has created a carefree environment which in turn makes it difficult to notice any flaws that are caused during a routine process.This can be an advantage for the attackers since the developers are deceived ,it is an easy task now to just manipulate their ignorance.
Types of automation in cyber security:
1. Bruteforce Attacks
Brute force attacks are one of the most common means of threat actors automating cyberattacks. Using a list of stolen or commonly used passwords(rockyou.txt). it’s possible for attackers to fully automate breaking into accounts, with an automated password cracking tool doing all the work for them to gain access to accounts.
This tool will basically brute force all the combinations of passwords to the console for login and try to crack the security.It may also be used to perform DDos attacks by brute forcing requests to a server and suffocate to crash.
2. Loaders and cryptors
Loaders and cryptors allow threat actors to implant malicious code, bypassing antivirus softwares whenever possible. Mostly,low-level hackers don’t have the potential to inject malware or ransomware to their victims, so the creators of the malicious software are automating the processes, allowing the attackers to install the malware without any hands-on knowledge.
Sometimes they’re able to make minor changes with a simple interface, but mostly it’s hands off, with the initial creator having automated the service at the start.
3. Keyloggers
Stealing information is the main aim of a lot of hackers and criminals. they can use automated tools to sniff and steal login details from popular websites, or even a preconfigured keylogger that can monitor all the activities of an infected user, allowing attackers to steal useful data.
4. Exploit kits
Exploit kits automate the exploitation of familiar vulnerabilities of web browsers in order to enable infections to implant other malwares and spywares. because the process is entirely automate, they’re a popular element of automate hacking. The fallout kit remains one of the most popular kits.
5. Phishing
Email spam or phishing is one of the simplest cybercrimes to operate, with attackers indiscriminately using automated software to generate email addresses such as fake gift vouchers, phoney messages about locked accounts and more to thousands of victims at a time. This takes a considerable amount of time but even if a less amount of systems are compromised, it will be a great deal.
6. Credit card sniffers
Dark web and black markets are full of sniffers, malware to steal card data from the pages of online shops – and this data is extremely valuable, either for the attackers to use it or to sell it onto others.
Mostly it is based on javascript injection that automatically collects payment card information and data of customers, sending that directly to a command for further exploitation.
Each and everyday technology is getting improved and the above shown attacks are just the tip of the iceberg.Since this has become the era of automation,it has become even more easier for the attackers to use these automated tools to perform nasty harmful attacks.
Some of the free automated tools:
- Kiuwan Code Security (SAST)
- NMAP
- NETSPARKER
- INTRUDER.
- METASPLOIT
- ACUNETIX
- WIRESHARK
- AIRCRACK-NG
- ETTERCAP
- MALTEGO
Written By: D.Hari Haran
Reviewed By: Sayan Chatterjee
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