Cybersecurity 101 - Terms to Know

The biggest hurdle when it comes to any new profession is learning vocabulary to the trade, and cybersecurity is no different! There are a ton of need-to-know terms in the cybersecurity world that a professional needs to fully understand to be able to carry out the daily tasks they are given. With this blog entry, it is my intention to break down several of the common ones, not just for my growing audience, but as a refresher course for myself as well!

So, let's get to it!

• Authentication - The process of identifying a user's identity, making sure that they can have access to the system and/or files. This can be accomplished either by a password, retina scan, or fingerprint scan, sometimes even a combination.
  

• Botnet - A combination of the words "robot," and "network," a botnet is a network of computers that have been infected with a virus, and now are working continuously in order to create security breaches. These attacks come in the form of Bitcoin mining, sending spam emails, and DDoS attacks.

• Data Breach - The result of a hacker successfully breaking into a system, gaining control of its network and exposing its data, usually personal data covering items such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and more.

• DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) - Using multiple hosts and users, hackers bombard a website with a tidal wave of requests to such an extent that it locks up the system and forces it to temporarily shut down.

• Domain - A series of computers and associated peripherals (routers, printers, scanners, etc.), that are all connected as one entity.

• Encryption - Coding used to protect your information from hackers. Think of it like the code cipher used to send a top-secret coded spy message.

• Exploit - A means of attack on a computer system, either a series of commands, malicious software, or a piece of infected data. Note that in this context, "exploit," is a noun, not a verb, as in "The hacker used a malware exploit to gain access to the credit card's server."

• Firewall - Any technology, software or hardware, used to keep intruders out.

• Black Hat Hacker - Hackers who attempt to gain unauthorized access to a system with the intent of causing mischief, damage, or theft. They can be motivated by greed, a political agenda, or simply boredom.

• White Hat Hacker - Hackers that are invited to test out computer systems and servers, looking for vulnerabilities, for the purposes of informing the host of where security needs to be buffed up. They are benign hackers, personifying the old axiom, "It takes a thief to catch a thief. "AKA - "Ethical Hackers!"

• 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. Malware is most often delivered via spam emails.

• Man-in-the-Middle Attack - An attack on the middlemen, in this case, defined as the Wi-Fi system that connects users to the internet. Hackers who carry out these attacks can break the Wi-Fi's encryption and use this as a means of stealing your personal data because they're now in the system.

• Phishing - Scams where hackers can pose as legit businesses or organizations (especially credit card companies, banks, charities, internet providers, etc.) in order to fool the victim into giving them sensitive personal information or inducing them to click a link or attachment that ends up delivering malware. Some of these schemes are extremely well done, whereas others are sloppy and amateurish and can be spotted with just a little extra vigilance.

• Ransomware - A form of malware that hijacks your system and encrypts your files, denying you access to them until you send money to unlock everything. In other words, it kidnaps your computer and holds it for ransom, hence the clever name.