Threat

With computer security, a threat is the potential for a bad event to happen involving a business, computer, or network. A computer hacker attacking a company and stealing confidential information is an example of a threat.

Examples of threats to a computer

There are many natural and human-made threats that could affect a computer. Below are some of them to help give you an idea of potential dangers. Visiting any of these links gives you further information about the threat.

• Accidental
• Hardware failure
• Exceeding storage capacity
• Software error
• Human error
• Deliberate
• Backdoor
• Data leak
• Denial of service
• Dumpster diving and theft of confidential information.
• Keylogging
• Man-in-the-middle attack
• Phishing
• Social engineering
• Spoofing
• Virus, Trojan, spyware, and other malware infection.
• Zero-day flaw
• Environmental
• Disaster: fire, seismic, volcanic, water.
• Electrical: brownout, surge
• Loss of service: power outage, cooling failure, loss of telecommunications.
• Pollution: dirt, dust
• Negligence
• Neglecting maintenance

What is threat hunting?

Cyber threat hunting or threat hunting is the automatic or manual process of searching through computers in a network to find vulnerabilities or malware. Companies and services that offer this type of detection provide a list of potential threats with methods on how to protect against them.

How can computer threats be measured?

Below are technical reports with more advanced information on assessing security risks.

• NIST Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments
• OCTAVE - Operationally Critical Threat, Asset, and Vulnerability Evaluation
• FAIR - Factor analysis of information risk
• ISO 31000 Risk Management

Bug bounty, Business terms, Computer security, Exploit, IETF, Intrusion detection system, Malicious, Security terms, Threat actor, Vulnerability