Back door: A way to access an electronic system by bypassing some or all security mechanisms.
Blog: An online journal. Contraction of the term “web log.”
Bot: A software robot that performs automated tasks.
Browser: A program used to access the Internet. Commonly used browsers include Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox.
Computer Incident Response Team- The Computer Incident Response Team investigates network security incidents that occur when unauthorized access takes place to network resources or protected data. Their job is to analyze how the incident took place and provide a response, by discovering how the breach occurred and what information has been lost.
Cookie: An information packet sent from a website to a web browser that records a user’s activity on that website.
Cyber Attack- A cyber-attack is considered to be any type of offensive action used by an individual or an organized group that targets computer networks, information systems or a large IT infrastructure by using various means to deploy malicious code for the purpose of stealing, altering or taking any advantage from this type of action.
Cyber bullying: The act of one individual harassing or intimidating another individual via the Internet.
Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack: A coordinated attack that aims to overwhelm the resources of a targeted system to crash that system.
Dark Web- The dark web refers to websites and online content that exists outside the reach of traditional search engines and browsers. This content is hidden by encryption methods (in most cases, these sites use the Tor encryption tool to hide their identity and location) and can only be accessed with specific software, configuration settings or pending approval from their admins.
Deep Web- The deep web is a similar concept to the dark web, but has a less shady nature. The world wide web content which is not indexed by traditional search engines is known as the deep web, and preferred by certain groups for its increased privacy levels. However, unlike the dark web, the deep web doesn’t require its users to be particularly tech-savvy, and is not hidden by sophisticated methods; all you need is to know the address of the website you want to access.
Domain name: A unique Internet identifier registered to an entity (e.g. whitehouse.gov).
Email header: The opening section of an electronic message that provides information about the sender, recipients, subject, and the date and time a message was sent.
Encrypted Network- A network on which messages are encrypted using a special algorithm in order to prevent unauthorized people from reading them.
Fail Safe- A Fail-Safe security system or device is an automatic protection system that intervenes when a hardware or software failure is detected.
Firewall: Hardware and/or software designed to prevent unauthorized users from accessing a computer system.
Global Positioning System (GPS): A satellite navigation system that identifies the precise location of the transmitting device.
Hacktivism: A politically- or ideologically-motivated cyber attack or hack.
Integrity- This is one of the core principles in cyber security and it refers to the fact that we must ensure that information has not been changes (deliberately or unwillingly), and that the data is accurate and complete.
Internet Protocol (IP) address: A unique 32-bit binary number that identifies the computer or other host being used to access the Internet.
IP Spoofing- This is a tactic used by cyber criminals to supply a false IP address that masquerades a legitimate IP. This helps the attacker gain an unfair advantage and trick the user or a cyber security solution that’s in place.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): A company that offers access to the Internet. Login: A username and password used to identify an individual attempting to gain access to a restricted page or network.
Keylogging- Through keylogging, cyber criminals can use malicious software to record the keystrokes on a users’s keyboard, without the victim realizing it. This way, cyber criminals can collect information such as passwords, usernames, PIN codes and other confidential data.
Malware: Malicious software, such as a virus or a worm, that attacks a target computer.
Metadata: Amassed data that is used to describe large amounts of other Internet data.
Network: A group of computers that is linked to share data and other information. Operating system: The overarching program that runs all the functions on a computer or other electronic device.
Password: A word, phrase, or collection of characters that must be entered correctly on a login page to access content in a restricted area. Administrators may require passwords be a certain length, include capital letters, numbers, or special characters, or be changed after a set length of time.
Phishing: Attempting to mimic an official email from a trusted organization to lure individuals into revealing login information or other personal information.
Search engine: A website that finds information across the Internet based on a set of search criteria. Spam: Unsolicited advertising or other information sent out via email or other messaging service. System administrator: An individual who manages and oversees a network.
SSL- SSL comes from Secure Sockets Layer, which is an encryption method to ensure the safety of the data sent and received from a user to a specific website and back. Encrypting this data transfer ensures that no one can snoop on the transmission and gain access to confidential information, such as card details in the case of online shopping. Legitimate websites use SSL (start with https) and users should avoid inputting their data in websites that don’t use SSL.
Supply chain attack– This type of attack aims to inflict damage upon an organization by leveraging vulnerabilities in its supply network. Cyber criminals often manipulate with hardware or software during the manufacturing stage to implant rootkits or tie in hardware-based spying elements. Attackers can later use these implants to attack the organization they are after.
Tampering- The intentional activity of modifying the way an information system works, in order to force it to execute unauthorized actions.
Time bomb- This is a type of malware that stays dormant on the system for a definite amount of time, until a specific event triggers it. This type of behavior is present in malware to make detection by security software more difficult.
Trojan: A program that masks something harmful, such as a worm or virus, that it carries into a device.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)- A VPN, short for Virtual Private Network, uses the Internet public infrastructure to connect to a private network. VPNs are usually created and owned by corporations. By using encryption and other security means, a VPN will hide your online activity from attackers and offer extra shield when you want to safely navigate online.
Vulnerability- A vulnerability is a hole in computer security, that leaves the system open to damages caused by cyber attackers. Vulnerabilities have to solved as soon as they are discovered, before a cyber criminal takes advantage and exploits them.
Webcam: A camera connected to a computer, generally used to then stream videos to the Internet.
Whitehat Hackers– Also known as ethical hackers, these are usually cybersecurity specialists, researchers or just skilled techies who find security vulnerabilities for companies and then notify them to issue a fix.
Wireless hotspot: A location where individuals can connect to the Internet wirelessly. This may be in a larger area in a public space or a small space created by a cell phone.
YLCC would like to thank Sachet Labroo for his valuable inputs in this article.
