CyberSecurity Glossary

Biometrics: 
Authentication that uses unique physical characteristics, including fingerprints and facial recognition.

Black Hat Hacker: 
A malicious hacker who exploits vulnerabilities within a system or program for personal gain or to cause harm.

Business Email Compromise (BEC):
A scam that uses email to trick employees into sending money or divulging confidential company info by impersonating an executive.

Card Skimmer: 
A device placed on a card reader with the intent to intercept card information.

Compliance: 
Adherence to laws, regulations, and guidelines that govern data protection and privacy in the financial sector.

Cookie:
A small file containing data stored on your computer by websites. These files help identify your computer while you browse the internet or use a network. Cookies allow websites to remember your information, including logins, shopping carts, and more.

Cyber Hygiene: 
Practices and steps that users take to maintain system health and improve online security.

Cybersecurity: 
The process of protecting information by preventing, detecting and responding to attacks.

Data Breach: 
An incident where unauthorized access to sensitive data occurs, potentially leading to data theft or exposure.

Digital Wallet: 
An electronic device or an online service that enables individuals or businesses to make transactions electronically, often in the form of electronic credit and debit cards.

Encryption: 
The transformation of data into a form that conceals the data’s original meaning to prevent unauthorized access.

Firewall: 
A part of a computer system designed to block unauthorized access while permitting outward communication. Its functions as a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external networks.

Fraudster:
A person or group who acquires money through deception.

Hacker: 
An unauthorized user who attempts to or gains access to an information system.

HTTPS:
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure. A standard and secure method for communication that adds a layer of security to data exchanged between a user's web browser and a web server.

Identity Theft:
The unauthorized use of someone else's personal information to commit fraud.

Incident Response Plan:
A documented strategy outlining the procedures to follow when a cybersecurity incident occurs.

Malware: 
Software that is intentionally included or inserted in a system for a harmful purpose.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): 
Login authentication requiring two or more factors to achieve authentication.

Phishing: 
A technique used to acquire sensitive data via email or on a website, usually done while masquerading as a legitimate source.

PIN: 
Personal Identification Number, a secret number a cardholder memorizes and uses to authenticate their identity during a transaction.

Quishing: 
A cyberattack that uses QR codes via email, text, websites, social media or posted in public places to trick people into visiting malicious websites or downloading harmful content.

Ransomware:
Malicious software that encrypts a victim's files or locks them out of their system, rendering their data inaccessible.

Social Engineering: 
A manipulation technique that relies on human emotion to deceive individuals into revealing sensitive information.

Spoofing: 
Faking the sending address of a transmission to gain illegal entry into a secure system. This could include a fake email or website domain that is very similar to a legitimate address.

Spyware: 
Malicious software designed to track a user's computer activity and send details back to the fraudster. This can track things such as applications used, usernames and passwords entered, and more.

Synthetic Identity Fraud:
The creation of a new identity using a combination of real and fictitious information to defraud financial institutions.

Trojan Horse:
A type of malicious software that disguises itself as a legitimate program or file to deceive users. This software evades security mechanisms, sometimes by exploiting legitimate authorizations of a system entity that invokes the program.

Unsecured Website: 

A site that lacks proper security measures (like HTTPS), making it vulnerable to data breaches and information theft. This doesn't necessarily mean the site itself was created with malicious intent, but its lack of security makes it vulnerable to bad actors.

Vishing:
Voice phishing, where fraudsters use phone calls to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information by masquerading as a legitimate entity, such as a government agency or a family member urgently requesting funds.

White Hat Hacker: 
An ethical hacker who uses their skills to find and fix security vulnerabilities in systems and networks.