Scams
legitimate-looking emails designed to trick a recipient into giving their personal data to the sender of the email.
phishing
Malicious computer program which is used to hack into a computer. It enables the person who created it to take control of the computer it has infected. Is a reference to the ancient Greek story, in which Greek soldiers laying siege to the city of Troy hid inside a wooden horse and deceived the Trojans into thinking that it was a peace offering.
Trojan horse
Designed to prevent unauthorised network access. Organisations which store personal data tend to have several computers that form networks, many of which are connected to the internet.
Firewall
Redirecting a user to a fake website in order to illegally obtain personal data about the user.
Pharming
Type of malware that is designed to spread from one computer to another, usually by means of the internet, causing changes in the way each computer operates as it spreads. They have the ability to replicate themselves
Virus
sometimes referred to as a ‘pen test’, is when companies employ somebody to deliberately attack their computer network. They do this so that the authorised ‘hacker’ will identify the weaknesses in their system’s security and the company can then take measures to improve it if necessary
Penetration testing
Type of phishing attack that uses text messages from a cell phone or smartphone to deliver a bait message.
Smishing
Software whose main purpose is to generate income for the originator or creator of the software. It is normally downloaded with free software, without the user’s knowledge. It automatically generates advertisements.
Adware
In order to prevent hackers accessing a computer network, users are required to log on. This means that they have to identify themselves to the system, so that it can be sure it is not a hacker trying to gain access.
Authentication techniques
Practice of making a phone call in order to get someone to divulge their personal or banking details.
Vishing
Type of malicious software that is designed to install a set of tools in a computer which allows the attacker to have remote access to that computer continuously. It gives the attacker continuous privileged access to a computer and hides its presence deep within the operating system; the user is completely unaware that their computer has been infected.
Rootkit
If hackers do gain access to a network, their ability to retrieve personal data can be limited by network settings created by a network manager. This is particularly the case with hospitals, for example, where doctors may be able to see the illnesses and diagnoses of their patients but administration staff may only be able to find out other, not health-related, information about patients.
Levels of access
Altering IP addresses on a DNS server by a ‘pharmer’ or hacker with the intention of redirecting a user to their fake website.
DNS cache poisoning
Type of malware that does not rely on files and leaves no evidence once it has been executed. It is very difficult for anti-malware software to detect and remove. It only resides in the main memory (RAM)
Fileless malware
Sets of rules that allow companies to choose who is allowed to access their computer network and control their use of the network once they have gained access.
Network policies