Cyber attacks
What is malware?
A portmanteau of “malicious” and “software”, describing a wide variety of bad software used to infect and/or damage a system. Ransomware, worms, viruses, and trojans are all considered malware. It most often delivered via spam emails.
What is a password manager?
A software application that stores and manages a user's passwords for online accounts and security features
What is Identity Theft?
The fraudulent use of a person's private identifying information, usually for financial gain.
What is Brute Force hacking?
Using a program to try all combinations of passwords with trial and error.
When should you update the software on your devices and browsers?
You should use automatic updates to install them immediately.
Software updates shouldn’t be ignored because they usually include important security improvements that protect your devices against the latest cybercriminal tactics.
Who are hacktivists?
Hacker activists who engages in politically motivated attacks on computer systems. These attacks may involve malware, botnets, and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to target individuals or organizations that oppose certain political views or actions.
What is Phishing?
The fraudulent practice of sending emails or messages pretending to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
What is a VPN and why is it useful?
An acronym standing for Virtual Private Network, a VPN is a method of connecting a series of computers and devices in a private encrypted network, with each user’s IP address being replaced by the VPN’s IP address. Users get Internet anonymity, making it difficult for hackers to attack.
What is a deepfake?
A deepfake is a type of media manipulation, where bad actors alter an image or video to create a false perception of reality.
These malicious cyber attacks can be used for spreading misinformation and propaganda, or engaging in identity theft or fraud.
As deepfakes become more prevalent and sophisticated, users need to be aware of how to protect themselves from these attacks.
What is Ransomware?
A type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid.
What is two-factor authentication and why is it better?
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security method that requires two different forms of identification to access data and resources. It's a type of multi-factor authentication (MFA) that adds an extra layer of protection to accounts and systems by making it harder for attackers to gain access.
What does DDoS mean?
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. A type of cyberattack, an attacker overwhelms a website, server, or network resource with malicious traffic
What is social engineering?
Instead of breaking in or utilizing technical hacking techniques, social engineering is a growingly popular way to access restricted resources. This strategy relies on user manipulation and human psychology. An employee might get an email from a social engineer purporting to be from the IT department in order to deceive him into disclosing private information rather than trying to uncover a software weakness in a company system.
What is credit skimming and what is one way to protect against it?
Skimming is a method of obtaining personal data from ATM, debit, or credit cards while they are used at an ATM machine or a merchant location. People can alter equipment on legitimate ATMs in an effort to steal both the magnetic stripe data from the cards being used and the PINs that are assigned to those cards.
To avoid skimming you can:
Check for tampering: Before using a machine, look for signs of tampering, like tape, sticky glue residue, or bulkiness.
Use contactless pay: Tap to pay or contactless pay methods are usually safer because the skimmer can't grab your card info.
What is Website Spoofing?
Website spoofing is the creation of a replica(or copy) of a trusted site with the intention of misleading visitors to a phishing site. Legitimate logos, fonts, colors and functionality are used to make the spoofed site look realistic.