Unit Conversion Blog

An injection attack happens when untrusted input is treated as code. That is the core risk. A search box, login form, URL parameter, API field, or file upload can become a doorway if the app sends that input to a database, operating system, or browser without safe handling. OWASP still lists injection as a major web application risk, which says a lot about how common and stubborn this problem is [source: OWASP]. Read more

Lateral movement is what attackers do after the first break-in: they move from one computer to another until they find the juicy stuff. That may be payroll data, admin accounts, source code, or cloud keys. This matters because the average data breach cost hit $4.88 million in 2024 [source: IBM]. Read more

A honeypot is a controlled decoy system built to attract attackers, record what they do, and keep them away from real assets. It should never hold real customer data or business secrets. Its value is visibility. That matters because IBM reported the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024 [source: IBM]. Read more

A Smurf attack is a DDoS-style flood that tricks many devices into hammering one victim with ICMP replies. The attacker spoofs the victim’s IP address, sends ping requests to a broadcast address, and waits while every reachable host answers the victim at once. This old attack still matters because it explains how amplification works: a small request can create a much bigger traffic wave. Cloudflare describes this as a reflection and amplification pattern, where forged traffic bounces through third-party systems toward the target [source: Cloudflare]. Read more

An intrusion detection system, or IDS, watches traffic or system activity and flags behavior that may mean an attack is underway. It does not magically stop every breach, but it gives security teams the warning they need before damage spreads. That matters because the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024 [source: IBM]. Read more

Use AES to encrypt data, and use RSA or ECC to protect the AES key. That is the clean answer in most real systems. AES was standardized by NIST as FIPS 197 in 2001, and it remains a trusted choice for high-speed encryption [source: NIST]. Read more

A man-in-the-middle attack is when someone secretly sits between you and a website, app, or Wi Fi router, then reads or changes what you send. Read more

Packet interception means copying network traffic so you can inspect it. Think of it like reading the address labels on tiny digital packages as they move across a network. Tools like Wireshark and tcpdump do this for troubleshooting, security checks, and “why is the app broken again?” moments. Wireshark is a free, open source packet analyzer [source: Wireshark]. Read more

Cross-site scripting, or XSS, is a web security flaw that lets an attacker run unwanted JavaScript in another person’s browser, often through a trusted website [source: OWASP]. That script can steal session cookies, change page content, capture form input, or push users to fake login pages. It is common because many sites still accept user input without cleaning it well enough. Read more

Use TLS 1.3 with HTTPS, and treat SSL as obsolete. That is the practical answer for modern web security. TLS 1.3, defined in RFC 8446, removed weak older options and reduced most new connection handshakes to one round trip [source: IETF]. HTTPS is not a rival to TLS. It is HTTP running over TLS. Read more