Summary

This chapter gave an overall picture of the phases commonly involved in cyber-attacks. It exposed the mindset of an attacker. It showed how an attacker gets details about a target using simple methods and advanced intrusion tools to later on use this information to attack users. It has discussed the two main ways through which attackers escalate their privileges when they attack systems. It has explained how cyberattackers exfiltrate data from systems that they have access to. It has also looked at scenarios where attackers proceed to attack the hardware of a victim to cause more damage. It has then discussed ways through which attackers maintain anonymity. Lastly, the chapter has highlighted ways through which users can interrupt the threat life cycle and thwart attacks.

The next chapter will take an in-depth look at reconnaissance to fully understand how attackers collect information about users and systems using social media, compromised websites, emails, and scanning tools.