If you monitor news with any regularity, you will have noticed that almost every week we hear of a new cybersecurity breach somewhere in the world. While they may all sound the same, there are a host of different cyberthreats lurking out there. Here is a glossary of basic cybersecurity terminology:
Anti-Malware — Software that prevents, detects and eliminates malicious programs on computing devices.
Antivirus — Software that detects and eliminates computer viruses.
Botnets — A group of Internet-connected devices configured to forward transmissions (such as spam or viruses) to other devices, despite their owners being unaware of it.
Cybercrime — Also known at computer crime or netcrime, cybercrime is loosely defined as any criminal activity that involves a computer and a network, whether in the commissioning of the crime or the target.
DDoS — “Distributed denial of service” attack. An attempt to interrupt or suspend host services of an Internet-connected machine causing network resources, servers, or websites to be unavailable or unable to function.
Malware — An overarching term describing hostile and/or intrusive software including (but not limited to) viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, spyware, adware, and others, taht usually take the form of executables, scripts, and active content.
Phishing — An attempt to acquire sensitive information like usernames, passwords, and credit card details for malicious purposes by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in a digital environment.
Ransomware — A type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.
Rootkit — Trojans that conceal objects or activities in a device’s system, primarily to prevent other malicious programs from being detected and removed.
Social Engineering — Non-technical malicious activity that exploits human interaction to subvert technical security policy, procedures, and programs, in order to gain access to secure devices and networks.
Spyware — Software that enables a user to obtain covert information about another’s computer activities by transmitting data covertly from their hard drive.
Trojan — Malicious, non-replicating programs that hide on a device as benign files and perform unauthorized actions on a device, such as deleting, blocking, modifying, or copying data, hindering performance, and more.
Zero-Day Vulnerability — a security gap in software that is unknown to its creators, which is hurriedly exploited before the software creator or vendor patches it.
For more information on how Capital Business Systems can help keep cybersecurity threats like these from infiltrating your business, visit our Managed Network Services page or contact us today.