A computer threat can be "intentional" such as hacking or "accidental" such as malfunctioning of or physical damage. There are many different threats to your computer’s safety, as well as many different ways a hacker could try to steal your data or infect your computer. Once on a computer, the threat will tend to show little to no symptoms so it can survive for a prolonged period undetected. Your online security and cybercrime prevention can be straightforward. In general, online criminals are trying to make their money as quickly and easily as possible.

We’ve compiled a list of the different types of threats as following :

Computer viruses : Computer viruses are pieces of software that are designed to be spread from one computer to another. They’re often sent as email attachments or downloaded from specific websites with the intent to infect your computer.

Rogue security software : Rogue security software is malicious software that mislead users to believe there is a computer virus installed on their computer or that their security measures are not up to date.

Spam : Email spam is the electronic version of junk mail. It involves sending unwanted messages, often unsolicited advertising, to a large number of recipients. Spam is a serious security concern, as it can be used to deliver email that could contain Trojan horses, viruses, worms, spyware and targeted attacks aimed at obtaining sensitive, personal identification information.

Adware : Adware we consider any software that is designed to track data of your browsing habits and, based on that, show you advertisements and pop-ups. When adware is downloaded without consent, it is considered malicious.

Spyware : Spyware works similarly to adware, but is installed on your computer without your knowledge. It can contain keyloggers that record personal information including email addresses, passwords, even credit card numbers, making it dangerous because of the high risk of identity theft.

Phishing : Phishing is a method of a social engineering with the goal of obtaining sensitive data such as passwords, usernames, credit card numbers.

The attacks often come in the form of instant messages or phishing emails designed to appear legitimate. The recipient of the email is then tricked into opening a malicious link, which leads to the installation of malware on the recipient’s computer.

SQL injection : SQL injection attacks are designed to target data-driven applications by exploiting security vulnerabilities in the application’s software. They use malicious code to obtain private data, change and even destroy that data, and can go as far as to void transactions on websites. It has quickly become one of the most dangerous privacy issues for data confidentiality.