| Encrypt |
The act of encoding a file for the purpose of preventing others from gaining access to its contents. In most cases only users with the correct password are able to use the encryption program to make the file readable again. |
| Firewall |
A software program that will not allow unauthorised intruders (such as hackers) into a computer or computer network. |
| Hacker |
Individuals who illegally break into other computer systems to damage and/or steal information. |
| Phishing |
The term coined by hackers who imitate legitimate companies in e-mails to entice people to share passwords or credit-card numbers. Believed to be the "most troubling new scam" on the internet. |
| Script Kiddie |
A person, normally someone who is not technologically sophisticated, who uses existing and frequently well-known and easy-to-find techniques and programs or scripts to search for and exploit weaknesses in other computers on the Internet. This is often random and with little regard or perhaps even understanding of the potentially harmful consequences. |
| Sniffer |
A program and/or device that monitors data travelling over a network. Sniffers can be used to steal information on a network. Unauthorized sniffers can be extremely dangerous to a network's security because they are virtually impossible to detect and can be inserted almost anywhere. This makes them a favourite weapon in the hacker's arsenal. |
| Spam |
SPAM is slang commonly used to describing junk e-mail on the internet, sent to you without prior approval. |
| Spyware |
A software program that is intentionally installed on a computer by a 3rd party with malicious intentions, to monitor or spy on what other users of the computer are doing. |
| Trojan Horse |
A program or utility that falsely appears to be useful (such as a screen saver). However, once installed performs a function in the background such as allowing other users to have access to your computer or sending information from your computer to other computers. |
| Virus |
A software program, script, or macro that has been designed to infect, destroy, modify, or cause other problems with a computer or software program. |
| WEP |
Short for Wireless Equivalent Privacy, WEP is a type of encryption defined in the 802.11 standard that helps protect a wireless network using encryption. |
| Worm |
A destructive software program containing code capable of gaining access to computers or networks and once within the computer or network causing that computer or network harm by deleting,modifying, distributing, or otherwise manipulating the data. |
