Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users via ransomware; or interrupting normal business processes.
26 Cyber Security Terms and Terminologies you should know
- Catfishing: Creating a fake identity on a social network account, usually a dating website, to target a specific victim for deception.
- Cyber security: A technique for protecting computers, networks, programs, and data from unauthorized access or hackers for exploitation.
- Data breach: When sensitive, protected, or confidential information is intentionally released to an untrusted environment.
- Data protection: Also known as data privacy and information privacy, the process of safeguarding information so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
Digital security: An all-encompassing term for the tools used to secure your identity, data, assets, and devices. - Ethical hacking: The practice of locating vulnerabilities and weaknesses in information systems and computers by duplicating the actions and intent of malicious hackers who seek to bypass security and search for gaps in systems that can be exploited.
- Firewall: An internet traffic filter meant to stop unauthorized incoming and outgoing traffic.
- Firmware: Code that is embedded into the hardware of a computer.
- Fileless Malware: Malware operating in-memory.
- Flame: Also known as Flamer, sKyWIper, and Skywiper, a modular computer malware discovered in 2012. It attacks computers running on Microsoft Windows.
- Hacker: A cyber attacker who uses software and social engineering methods to steal data and information.
- Password: A secret word or phrase that is used to access a computer system or service.
- Phishing: The method of obtaining user information through fraudulent communications targeted directly at people. This is usually done through emails disguised as coming from a legitimate source but delivers the target’s information back to the hacker’s actual source.
- Piggyback programs: Programs that are bundled into another program that a user downloads in the hope that the user will select “next” by force of habit and install.
- Plaintext: Text that can be read by the human eye, like this article!
- Plugins: Customizable additions to software for extra functionality.
- Private data: Data that is used to identify you, like your name, address, phone number, or Social Security Number.
- Sandboxing: An effort to increase security by isolating processes and browser tabs from one another and the rest of the computer. .
- Spoofing: An attack in which a person, or program, disguises themselves as another by falsifying data to gain an advantage or the trust of someone else.
- Trojan: A form of malicious software that disguises itself as a harmless computer program but provides threat actors with the ability to execute any variety of attacks that steal
- Virus: Viruses are typically attached to files, applications or downloads that appear to be non-threatening elements. Once downloaded, opened or executed, the virus can piggyback onto programs to corrupt data or expand throughout a network and damage systems across a company.
- White hat hacking: Hacking that is meant to do minimal damage and is usually done out of curiosity.
- Sexting: Sending mass emails or text messages that include nude or degrading photos of the victim.
- Slut shaming: This behaviour involves shaming someone, usually a girl, for the way she dresses, acts or the number of people she has dated.
- Cyber-baiting: Creating an incident that causes another person to become upset or emotional and then record the incident.
- Catfishing: Pretend to be someone else in order to lure an unsuspecting person into a fake relationship.