Attack Types

Overview

There are many ways that a hacking event occurs. We will look at several known types and role-play how the attack is done.

Purpose

Many attack types exist and are referred to by name. We want to be able to define the different types of attacks and give them a real-world example to make the idea more concrete.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Identify major types of hacking attacks
• Describe methods of preventing attacks

Preparation

• Paper & Envelopes to simulate communication

Links

• For the Teacher

• For the Students

Vocabulary

Teaching Guide

Getting Started

• Read about someone who was cyber attacked
  • https://www.wired.com/2012/08/mat-honan-data-recovery/

    Activity

    Phishing

    Follow the URL Analysis and Phishing activity from Nebraska GenCyber Lesson

Activity

Create a physical internet where students send messages to one another using unique addresses and handing the message from student to student. Demo the unplugged internet without any attacks so students know how it works.

Man-in-the-Middle Attack

Choose one (or more) of the students to change the message as they pass it from one student to the next.

Denial of Service Attack

Have many students also send that same student messages but these messages can be gibberish or un-important messages that will crowd out the real message.

Replay Attack

After the messages have been sent, a second student will resend the same signatures or credentials but make a request for new information.

Wrap-up

Reflect as a class how these attacks might be done in an online context. What are some of the challenges we face when receiving or sending a message on the internet to verify that it is authentic?

Assessment Questions

• How do attackers simulate an authentic message?
• What are some ways you might ensure your message is not tampered with during transmission?
• How would a victim of a Denial of Service attack find the true traffic?

Extended Learning

Blog Post - Inform your blog audience about different attacks. Give advice that might help them prevent these attacks or help them know the signs that an attack is happening.

EFF Phishing & Malware Lesson

• https://sec.eff.org/topics/phishing-and-malware

EFF Threat Modeling Lesson

• https://sec.eff.org/topics/threat-modeling

  Standards Alignment

  Indiana - CS3S-3.1

License

Cyber Security Curriculum is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.