Securing Your System: Protecting Your Digital Data and Devices

Flashcards about securing computer systems, covering identity theft, hackers, viruses, malware, social engineering, firewalls, passwords, and data protection.

Identity Theft

When a thief steals personal information and poses as you; the most financially damaging cybercrime for individuals.

Hacker

Anyone who unlawfully breaks into a computer system.

White-hat Hacker

Ethical hackers who use their hacking skills for defensive purposes.

Black-hat Hacker

Hackers who use their skills for illegal or malicious purposes.

Virus

A program that attaches to a computer program to spread to other computers, replicating itself and copying its code into other host files.

Malware

Software that has malicious intent.

Adware

Software that displays sponsored advertisements.

Spyware

Unwanted piggyback software that transmits information and uses tracking cookies.

Spam

Unwanted software or junk e-mail; tactics to minimize this include using a spam filter.

Cookies

Small text files received when visiting a website that help companies determine the effectiveness of their marketing.

Social Engineering

A technique using social skills to generate human interaction and lure individuals to reveal sensitive information.

Pretexting

Creating a scenario that sounds legitimate to lure individuals into revealing sensitive information.

Phishing

Luring people into revealing information through deceptive means.

Pharming

Malicious code planted on a computer to gather information.

Ransomware

Malware that attacks a system by encrypting critical files so the system is no longer operational.

Scareware

Malware that attempts to convince you something is wrong and to pay money to fix it.

Firewall

Software or hardware designed to protect computers from hackers.

Virus Signature

Portion of the virus code that’s unique to a particular computer virus.

Quarantining

Placing a virus in a secure area so it won’t spread to other files.

Inoculation

Records key attributes about your computer files and keep stats in secure place

Drive-by Download

Exploits weaknesses in operating systems, combatted by keeping the OS up to date.

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

Secure networks that are established using the public Internet infrastructure.

Backups

Copies of files used to replace lost or damaged originals.