unit 8 comp sci vocab

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

 information about an individual that identifies, links, relates, or describes them.

Phishing

 a technique that attempts to trick a user into providing personal information. That personal information can then be used to access sensitive online resources, such as bank accounts and emails.

Spear Phishing

the fraudulent practice of sending emails ostensibly from a known or trusted sender in order to induce targeted individuals to reveal confidential information.

Keylogging

the use of a program to record every keystroke made by a computer user in order to gain fraudulent access to passwords and other confidential information.

Malware

software intended to damage a computing system or to take partial control over its operation.

Ransomware

 denies access to your files and demands payment through Bitcoin in order for access to be granted again.

Adware

 a type of malware that automatically displays unwanted advertisements. Clicking on one of these ads could redirect you to a malicious site.

Spyware

A type of malware that functions by spying on a user’s activity. This type of spying includes monitoring a user’s activity, keystrokes and more.

Freeware

 software that can be downloaded for free over the internet.

Shareware

software that is available free of charge and often distributed informally for evaluation, after which a fee may be requested for continued use.

Trojan Horses

 disguises itself as a normal file and tricks users into downloading it, consequently installing malware.

Encryption

 a process of encoding messages to keep them secret, so only "authorized" parties can read it.

Decryption

a process that reverses encryption, taking a secret message and reproducing the original plain text.

Cipher

 the generic term for a technique (or algorithm) that performs encryption.

Caesar Cipher

 a technique for encryption that shifts the alphabet by some number of characters.

Cracking Encryption

 attempting to decode a secret message without knowing all the specifics of the cipher.

Symmetric Key Encryption

 involves one key for both encryption and decryption.

Public Key Encryption

pairs a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. The sender does not need the receiver’s private key to encrypt a message, but the receiver’s private key is required to decrypt the message.

Multi-factor Authentication

a system that requires at least two steps to unlock protected information; each step adds a new layer of security that must be broken to gain unauthorized access.

Strong Password

something that is easy for a user to remember but would be difficult for someone else to guess based on knowledge of that user. 

Virus

a malicious program that can copy itself and gain access to a computer in an unauthorized way. Computer viruses often attach themselves to legitimate programs and start running independently on a computer.

Bugs

 a type of error, flaw or failure that produces an undesirable or unexpected result; they typically exist in a website’s source code and can cause a wide range of damage.

Worms

 relies on security failures to replicate and spread itself to other computers; they are often hidden in attachments and will consume bandwidth and overload a web server.

Bots

a software program created to perform specific tasks. They can send spam or be used in a DDoS attack to bring down an entire website.

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attack

a malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic.

Rogue Access Point

a wireless access point that gives unauthorized access to secure networks.

Certificate Authority

 a trusted entity that manages and issues security certificates and public keys that are used for secure communication in a public network.