11.7

USB drive

A USB flash drive is a small hard drive that pluhs into a computers USB port; it can spread viruses or malware between computers.

netstat

A command-line tool used to discover information about network statistics, including open network ports.

zombie computer

A computer that has become infected with malware and performs automated tasks controlled by the hacker.

botnet

A network of computer that have been infected by viruses or worms. the computer on a botnet can be used to spam other computers, or their processing power can be harnessed by the hacker and used for illicit purposes.

phishing

A scam in which hackers create a wensite and an email message that look as if they're being delivered by a genuine business, in an attempt to trick users into revealing their logins, passwords or other identifying information

ID theft

A type of fraud in which someone uses a persons login, password, or social security number to impersonate her and open or change their financial accounts or rack up credit card debt in their name.

virus

A type of malicious program that replicates itself from machine to machine or onto sotrage devices.

adware

A type of malicious software that causes advertisements to pop up on the users computer screen.

spyware

A type of malware that spies on the user's action and reports the information back to the hacker. Spyware can communicate personal information such as passwordsl this information can then be used to commit fraud.

floppy disk

An archaic storage device used in the early days of computer to store stofware or other data; used for spreading the very first computer virus

malware

Malicious software that spreads on a computer network; this can include adware, spyware, or other dangerous computer programs.

bots

Robots that crawl the web and read the code of web pages, or automated programes that can work behinde the scenes on a users computer this is what google and other seach engines use to create an index for search terms.

Social Security number

The number that identifies you to the social security administration, used for tax purposes. This information is often used by banks or other institutions to authenticate or verify users' identities, so if it falls into the wrong hands it can be used for ID theft scams

desconstruct

To take something apart in order to understand its underlying structire. In essay terms this can mean to analyze the outline of the essay or to examine the logical arguments that the writer poses.

firewall

a network firewall us used to filter traffic on the network by blocking unneeded network ports or reading the headers or contents of data packets and determining what is safe or risky based on rules configured by an administrator.

port block

a network security feature where a firewall or other software is used to prevent a service from using ceartain network ports or physical hardware ports such as USB devices. This prevents viruses from spreading through those vectors

fraud

computer hackers can commit fraud by stealing your personal information and using it to impersonate you in order to steal or rack up credit card debt.

hacker

someone who hacks into a computer system in order to steal information or processing power.

Vulnerability

something in the code of an application or in the physical layout of a network that makes it possible for it to be hacked.

network port

special numbers in the header of a data packet that form part of the address for delivering the data packet. This section of the header also indicated what service to use such as internet email or chat.