Hackers use multiple strategies in order to achieve their goals — collect information from victims and ultimately compromise privacy. And every day, millions of internet users are becoming victims of such attacks, and a backdoor attack is one of the popular hacking attacks.
In this article, we are going to explain what backdoor attack is and what we can do to avoid being victims.
What Are Backdoor Attack?
Backdoor attack is a method through which cyber criminals bypass security measures. It is, as its name suggests, a way to enter our system without being detected. They do not need to authenticate or use any encryption method to do so. This means that they can enter the system without using passwords and without showing any type of authenticating information.
So what is a backdoor? — “A backdoor is a means to access a computer system or encrypted data that bypasses the system’s customary security mechanisms.”
Usually, a developer may create a backdoor to access an application or operating system for troubleshooting or other purposes. In addition, there can also be created by hackers through malware and computer attacks. Anyway, hackers find out these backdoors and use them to exploit the system and do illegal activities.
The problem is that in most cases, the victim does not know that this backdoor exists. As users, we do not know that the computer may be in danger and that an intruder could access without major problems. This could expose all data and information.
How Hackers Use Backdoors?
Cybercriminals can use these kinds of backdoors in different ways. They commonly use them to access information, collect data, and, ultimately, spy on users.
But they could also use them to go further and damage computers or even networks. By backdoor attacks, they could sneak in malware designed for criminal acts, for example, hidden cryptocurrency miners that can take our systems to the extreme. This could seriously damage our computer hardware.
In the case of backdoors created by cybercriminals, what they do is tunnel from their system to that of the victims’. They do this when they do not find a backdoor already present in the system, which they can take advantage of. But many of them can appear through different software and hardware vulnerabilities. Hackers crawl for these types of options to access computers. Therefore, it is essential to always have our systems properly protected.
Protect Yourself From Backdoor Attack
Something fundamental is always keeping our system and the tools we use updated. By this, we mean the operating system and any program that we have installed. We must always have all the patches correctly installed.
But common sense is also vital. Here it is essential not to make mistakes that compromise us. For example, we must be careful with the programs we install and where we download them from — it must always be done from official and secure sources.
Likewise, when we receive an email, when we surf the internet, we must make sure not to make mistakes that cause security problems.
On the other hand, good antivirus can prevent the entry of threats and problems that can damage our computers. We have many options at our disposal, both free and paid. We must always have antivirus software installed on our systems.
So always stay cautious and don’t do anything dumb, which might result as a backdoor for someone.
