Big Idea 5

Asymmetric ciphers

Uses two keys (public and private) for encryption and decryption.

Authentication

Verifying a user's identity before granting access.

Examples: Passwords, biometrics, security tokens.

Bias

A tendency to favor certain outcomes, often unintentionally.

Certificate Authority (CA)

A trusted organization that issues digital certificates to verify identities online.

Citizen science

Public participation in scientific research and data collection.

Computer virus

Malicious software that self-replicates and spreads to other devices.

Creative Commons Licensing

A legal framework allowing creators to share content with specific permissions.

Crowdfunding

Raising small amounts of money from a large number of people online.

Crowdsourcing

Obtaining input, ideas, or labor from a large group of people online.

Cybersecurity

Practices to protect systems, networks, and data from cyber threats.

Data mining

Extracting useful patterns and information from large datasets.

Decryption

The process of converting encrypted data back into its original form.

Digital divide

The gap between those with access to digital technology and those without.

Encryption

The process of converting data into unreadable code to protect it from unauthorized access.

Intellectual property

Creations of the mind (inventions, art, software) that are legally protected.

Keylogging

A type of spyware that records keystrokes to steal information.

Malware

Malicious software designed to harm or exploit devices and data.

Multifactor authentication

Requires multiple verification steps for stronger security (e.g., password + OTP).

Open access

Free and unrestricted access to research papers and scholarly content.

Open source

Software with publicly available source code that anyone can modify and distribute.

PII (Personally Identifiable Information)

Data that can identify an individual (e.g., name, SSN, email).

Phishing

A cyber attack where attackers trick users into revealing sensitive information.

Plagiarism

Using someone else's work or ideas without proper credit.

Public key encryption

A type of asymmetric encryption using a public key to encrypt and a private key to decrypt.

Rogue access point

An unauthorized Wi-Fi access point that poses security risks.

Symmetric key

Encryption where the same key is used for both encryption and decryption.

Encryption

Converting data into a coded format to protect it from unauthorized access.

Targeted marketing

Advertising tailored to users based on their data and behavior.

Machine Learning

Computers learn from data to make predictions or decisions (e.g, AI).

Cloud Computing

Storing and accessing data or programs over the internet instead of on a local computer.

WWW (World Wide Web)

A system of interlinked web pages and resources accessed through the internet using browsers.