Cyber Terms

Bot/Botnet: A computer connected to the Internet that has been secretly compromised with malicious code to perform activities under the command and control of a remote administrator.

Cloud Computing: A technology that allows the user to access files and/or services through the internet from anywhere in the world. It is a collection of computers with large storage capabilities that remotely serve requests.

Cryptocurrency: A type of digital asset/credit/currency that generally only exists electronically and uses encryption to ensure the security of transactions. There is no physical coin or bill unless you use a service that allows you to cash in cryptocurrency for a physical token. You usually exchange cryptocurrency with someone online, with your phone or computer, without using an intermediary like a bank. Bitcoin and Ether are well-known cryptocurrencies, but there are many different cryptocurrency brands, and new ones are continuously being created.

Data Breach: The unauthorized movement or disclosure of sensitive and private information to a party, usually outside the organization, that is not authorized to have or see the information.

Distributed Denial-of-Service Attack (DDoS): A form of cyberattack that aims to make a service such as a website or network unusable by flooding it with malicious traffic or data from multiple sources.

Doxing: The act of revealing identifying information about someone online, such as their real name, home address, workplace, phone, financial and other personal information. That information is then circulated to the public without the victim's permission for the purposes of scaring or intimidating, personal revenge, publicity and demonstrating anger or disagreement with a particular community/cause.

Encryption: The process of encoding data to prevent theft by ensuring the data can only be accessed with a key.

IP Address: An internet version of a home address for your computer, which is identified when it communicates over a network.

Internet of Things (IOT): A catch-all term for the growing number of electronics that are not traditional computing devices but are connected to the internet to send data, receive instructions or both. These devices range from ordinary household objects to sophisticated industrial tools.

Malware: An umbrella term that describes all forms of malicious software designed to wreak havoc on a computer. Common forms include viruses, trojans, worms and ransomware.

Multi-factor Authentication (MFA): Authentication that relies on more than one authentication factor, which makes impersonating someone at the time of login much harder to do. There are only three recognized authentication factors:

• Something you know — like a password, PIN, or the answer to a security question.
• Something you have — like a physical token, a signed certificate or a virtual token attached to your cell phone.
• Something you are — which covers biometrics like fingerprints, retinal scans or even the "unlock with your face" function on smart-phones and computers.

Phishing/Spear Phishing: A method in which fraudulent email messages are sent under the appearance of a trustworthy person with the goal of obtaining information such as login information, credit card information or company data. Some phishing attempts can also set the groundwork for malware by asking users to click on links or download attachments.

Romance Scam: Individuals adopt a fake online identity to gain a victim's affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to trick the victim into sending money.

Ransomware: A form of malware that deliberately prevents you from accessing files on your computer while holding your data hostage. It will typically encrypt files and request that a ransom be paid in order to have them decrypted or recovered.

Sextortion: A form of blackmail where someone threatens to distribute your private and sensitive material if you do not provide images of a sexual nature, sexual favors or money. The perpetrator may threaten to harm your friends or relatives by using information they have obtained from your electronic device, whether true or not, unless you comply with their demands.

SIM Swap Scam: A method in which fraudsters hijack a victim's cell phone number by convincing the telecom provider into activating a victim's phone number onto a new phone that the fraudsters own. The scammer can now gain control over the victim's text messages and phone calls and can reset passwords for social media or financial accounts.

Social Engineering: A broad term where an attacker uses human interaction/social skills to obtain or compromise sensitive and private information about an organization or its computer systems. Scams based on social engineering are built around how people think and act. So, once an attacker understands what motivates a person's actions, they can usually retrieve exactly what they are looking for – financial data and passwords.

Spoofing: An attempt by an unauthorized entity to gain access to a system by posing as an authorized user. Several types of spoofing included:

• Email spoofing where the email header is forged so that the message appears to have originated from a trusted source.
• URL spoofing in which a phishing website tries to steal your account password or other confidential information by tricking you into believing you are on a legitimate website.
• Caller ID spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the information transmitted to your caller ID display to disguise their identity.

Spyware: A type of malware that functions by spying on user activity without their knowledge. The capabilities include activity monitoring, collecting keystrokes, data harvesting (account information, logins, financial data), and more.

Virtual Private Network (VPN): A tool that allows the user to remain anonymous while using the internet by masking the location and encrypting traffic.