What Is Backdoor Attacks ?
From a cybersecurity perspective, a backdoor attack is an attempt to infiltrate a system or network by maliciously exploiting a software weakness. Backdoors allow attackers to sneak into a system unnoticed by deceiving security protocols and gain administrative access.
It’s like a robbery in real life, where burglars take advantage of loopholes in the house and get a “back door” to commit the theft. Given high-level administrative privileges, cyber attackers can perform various horrific tasks such as injecting spyware, gaining remote access, hacking a device, stealing confidential information, encrypting a system with ransomware, and more.
Backdoors are originally designed to help software developers and testers, so they’re not always bad.
Backdoor Types Of Malware Attacks
- A backdoor attack is a covert technique that bypasses deployed encryption or authentication schemes on a network, embedded device, computer, or other digital product.
- Attackers carry out backdoor attacks by injecting malware, such as a Trojan horse, into a remote part of a running program, or by using standalone malware disguised as legitimate software.
- In addition, backdoor attacks occur when cybercriminals inject malicious code into the operating system or firmware of a device in order to track all activities performed on the device. Attacks allow attackers to gain access to encrypted sensitive data or files, or gain secure remote access to a computer or network.
- The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) defines backdoor attacks as one of the major cybersecurity incidents affecting businesses in the EU and worldwide.
