In our increasingly connected world, your online privacy and personal cybersecurity are vital. This comprehensive glossary has been designed with you in mind, whether you're a technology enthusiast, an individual looking to enhance your online security, or simply seeking a better understanding of privacy-related topics.
Explore a wide range of terms and concepts, from encryption and VPNs to phishing and data breaches, and gain the knowledge and tools to protect your personal information in today's digital landscape. Whether you're browsing the internet, using social media, or interacting with online services, this glossary provides the insights you need to stay safe and maintain control over your digital life.
Adware:Adware refers to software designed to display or download advertising material automatically, often without the user's consent or knowledge.
Its primary purpose is to generate revenue for the author or distributor through advertising.
Adware is typically bundled with other software or installed without the user's explicit consent, often as a result of downloading freeware or shareware programs. Once installed, it may display intrusive and unwanted advertisements in various forms, such as pop-up windows, banners, or even modifying browser settings to redirect users to advertising websites.
AI/ML:Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. AI focuses on creating computer systems that can perform tasks requiring human intelligence, while ML involves algorithms that enable systems to learn from data and make predictions. These technologies have applications in various industries and can automate tasks, provide insights, and improve decision-making.
Antivirus Software: Computer programs designed to detect and remove malicious software, including viruses and malware.
Biometric Authentication: A security process that verifies an individual's identity using unique biological characteristics such as fingerprint or retina scans, facial recognition, and voice recognition.
Black Hat Hacker:A cybercriminal who intentionally breaches computer security for personal gain or malicious actions. Techniques often involve exploiting vulnerabilities, creating backdoors, and spreading malware
Bluebugging:Bluebugging is a specific type of attack that exploits vulnerabilities in Bluetooth technology to gain unauthorized access to a target device. This attack allows an attacker to silently access various types of sensitive information stored on the compromised device, including files, contacts, calendars, and emails.
The bluebugging attack takes advantage of security weaknesses in older versions of Bluetooth protocols and devices that have not implemented necessary security patches. By exploiting these vulnerabilities, an attacker can remotely connect to a target device without the user's knowledge or consent.
Blue Team: A group of cybersecurity professionals who defend an organization's systems, networks, and data against attacks. Responsibilities include implementing security measures, monitoring systems for unusual activity, conducting incident responses, and enhancing overall cybersecurity defenses.
Brute Force Attack: A cyberattack in which a perpetrator attempts to gain unauthorized access to an account by systematically trying all possible passwords until the correct one is identified.
Browser Fingerprinting: A technique used by websites and advertisers to collect browser configuration information to uniquely identify and track users.
Cloud Computing:A technology that delivers computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, artificial intelligence, and more—over the Internet, or "the cloud."
Cookies: Small files stored on your device by websites you visit. These files retain data unique to you and can track your online activity.
Credential Stuffing: A cyberattack where stolen account credentials—typically usernames or email addresses with associated passwords—are used to gain unauthorized access to user accounts via large-scale automated login requests against a web application.
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): A common security vulnerability found in web applications. It occurs when an attacker is able to inject malicious client-side scripts into web pages that are viewed by unsuspecting users. This allows the attacker to execute scripts in the victim's browser, potentially compromising their sensitive information or taking unauthorized actions on their behalf.
Cyber Attack: A deliberate act to manipulate, damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems or data.
Cyber Espionage: The unauthorized use of computer networks to access confidential information, typically held by a government or organization.
Cyber Forensics: A branch of digital forensics that investigates legal evidence found in computers and digital storage media.
Cyber Hygiene: Good practices and habits individuals and organizations should adopt to maintain high levels of cybersecurity. These include regular software updates, strong passwords, and awareness of potential threats.
Cybersecurity: The practice of protecting computers, networks, applications, and data from digital attacks through vigorous protective measures.
Darknet: A private network in which connections are established only between trusted peers, using non-standard protocols and ports. It is part of the Deep Web and is predominantly used for illicit activities
Data Breach:A data breach occurs when unauthorized individuals access, retrieve, or steal sensitive, confidential, or protected data. Data breaches can lead to significant losses for businesses, including financial penalties, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.
Deepfakes: The use of artificial intelligence to create convincingly false audiovisual content, potentially used to spread false information or conduct fraud.
Digital Signature:A mathematical scheme used to authenticate the integrity and authenticity of a digital message, software, or document, thereby enhancing digital communication security.
DDoS Attack: A cyberattack aimed at making an online service or website unavailable by flooding it with excessive internet traffic from multiple sources.
DNS (Domain Name System): A system that translates human-readable domain names into machine-readable IP addresses, facilitating internet traffic routing.
EMF (Electromagnetic Field): An electromagnetic field (EMF) is a physical field produced by electrically charged objects, including anything from large-scale electrical power lines and radio signals to cellphones and microwaves. It affects the behavior of charged objects within the vicinity of the field. The field can be viewed as a combination of an electric field and a magnetic field.
EMR (Electromagnetic Radiation): Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a form of energy emitted and absorbed by charged particles. EMR takes many forms, including radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays. These differing forms make up the electromagnetic spectrum. EMR is essential for an array of everyday technologies, including radios, TVs, and cellphones, but some forms of EMR, like ultraviolet radiation and gamma rays, can be harmful.
To address concerns regarding the potential risks associated with particular types of EMR, SLNT offers innovative Farday bags. These bags are designed to provide a shield against electromagnetic radiation, effectively blocking signals from reaching and potentially affecting electronic devices stored within them. SLNT Farday bags offer an additional layer of protection, which can be especially valuable for individuals seeking to minimize potential risks or secure their sensitive electronic devices from unwanted external signals.
EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse):An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a burst of electromagnetic energy that can have significant destructive effects on electronic equipment and systems. EMPs can result from both man-made sources, such as a nuclear explosion, or natural occurrences, like a solar flare. If powerful enough, an EMP could disrupt or even potentially destroy electronic devices, power lines, and security systems, causing widespread damage and disruption.
By utilizing SLNT's EMP protection products, you can enhance the resilience and longevity of your valuable electronic equipment, ensuring they remain functional and secure even in the face of unforeseen EMP events. Don't leave your devices vulnerable.
Encryption:The process of converting data into an unreadable code, which can only be accessed by authorized individuals possessing the decryption key.
Faraday Bags: Protective bags made of conductive material that block electromagnetic signals. These bags prevent the electronic devices inside them from being tracked, hacked, or affected by electromagnetic pulses (EMPs).
Firewall: A network security device that monitors and filters network traffic based on previously established security policies. It serves as a barrier between trusted and untrusted networks, blocking malicious traffic.
GPS (Global Positioning System): A satellite-based system widely used to accurately determine the geographical position of an object. It serves as the foundation for location-based applications and enables devices like smartphones to track and pinpoint their locations with precision. It has become an essential technology for navigation, outdoor activities, transportation, and various location-aware services.
HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure): An extension of HTTP used for secure communication over a computer network. It authenticates accessed websites and protects the privacy and integrity of exchanged data.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS):A network security technology that scrutinizes network traffic flows to anticipate and prevent exploit vulnerabilities.
IoT: The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices worldwide that are connected to the Internet, all collecting and sharing data.
IP Address (Internet Protocol Address): A numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network, using the Internet Protocol for communication purposes.
ISP (Internet Service Provider): A company that offers access to the Internet for personal and business usage.
MAC Address (Media Access Control Address):A MAC address is a universally unique identifier assigned to network interface controllers (NICs) for communications on the physical network segment. It serves as a unique identifier for each device on a local network or internet and is vital for directing network traffic.
Malware: Harmful software designed to infiltrate or damage a system, often without the user's awareness. Malware can take many forms, including viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, and rootkits.
Multi-factor Authentication / 2fa: An additional layer of security where users are required to provide at least two pieces of proof (or factors) to gain access to systems or applications.
Multishield®: A proprietary technology used in SLNT® products designed to protect a wide range of signals, including RFID, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cell signals.
NFC (Near Field Communication): A set of short-range wireless technologies, requiring a distance of typically 4cm or less, to initiate a connection for data exchange.
Nomophobia: Fear of losing mobile phone contact, steeped in an emotional dependence on smartphones and their convenience.
OPSEC (Operational Security): The procedure of identifying, examining, and applying measures to shield sensitive information and operations from unauthorized access or exploitation. This involves reducing vulnerabilities and defending assets, operations, and communications against potential threats.
OSINT (Open Source Intelligence): The process of collecting and analyzing publicly available information from accessible sources—such as social media, websites, public records, and news articles—to gather intelligence about individuals, organizations, or events.
Password Spraying: A type of brute force attack where a hacker attempts a common password against many accounts before trying a second password, and so forth. This method ensures the attacker's IP address isn't blocked due to login attempt restrictions.
Phishing: Deceptive acts where fraudsters attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, or credit card information by pretending to be a reliable entity in electronic communication.
Phone Addiction: Overdependence on a mobile phone to the degree that it begins to negatively impact a person's life quality or health.To address the growing issue of phone addiction, SLNT offers a comprehensive phone detox program. Our program is designed to help individuals regain control over their phone usage, establish healthier habits, and strike a better balance between technology and their well-being.
Public/Private Key Pair: A pair of cryptographic keys utilized in asymmetric encryption. The public key is universally available, while the private key is kept confidential.
Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS): This is a form of organized cybercrime. RaaS refers to a model where malware creators sell their ransomware and other services to cyber criminals who then carry out attacks. Essentially, it is a platform that offers ransomware as a service.
Red Team: A group of cybersecurity professionals who simulate real-world attacks on an organization's system, networks, or operations to identify vulnerabilities or weak points. They mimic tactics used by real adversaries, helping organizations enhance their overall security.
A sophisticated attack where an adversary intercepts the communication between two individuals by acting as a relay. Attackers typically use relay devices composed of two parts: a transmitter and a receiver. The attacker places the receiver near the car, while the transmitter is in proximity to the key fob, even if it is inside the owner's house. When the owner attempts to unlock the car with the key fob, the relay device picks up the signal and wirelessly relays it from the receiver to the transmitter. The transmitted signal is then received by the car, which mistakenly grants access as if the original key fob was in close proximity. This allows the attacker to unlock and potentially steal the vehicle.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification): A technology that uses radio waves to read and store information on a tag attached to an object.
Ransomware: A malware type where the attacker encrypts the victim’s system files and demands payment to decrypt and unlock them.
Supply Chain Attacks: These are attacks in which a component of a software supply chain is compromised, potentially affecting all users of that software.
Social Engineering: Social Engineering refers to the manipulation and exploitation of human psychology and behavior to deceive individuals and gain unauthorized access to systems, data, or sensitive information. It is a technique used by hackers and cybercriminals to trick unsuspecting individuals into disclosing confidential information or performing actions that compromise security.
Unlike traditional hacking methods that focus on exploiting technical vulnerabilities, social engineering relies on psychological manipulation, exploiting trust, fear, greed, or urgency to deceive victims. It can take various forms, such as impersonating a trusted authority figure, sending phishing emails or messages, conducting phone scams, or creating fraudulent websites.
Solar Flare Events: Solar flares are sudden flashes of the Sun's increased brightness, often associated with sunspots. They create a radiation burst across the electromagnetic spectrum and can alter the function of electronic devices and systems.
Spyware: Spyware refers to malicious software specifically designed to covertly gather information about a user without their knowledge or consent. Once installed on a device, spyware operates silently in the background, monitoring and capturing the user's activities. It aims to collect sensitive data such as passwords, credit card numbers, browsing habits, and personal information.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer): A standard security protocol for establishing encrypted links between web servers and browsers, ensuring the privacy and security of all data exchanged.
Spam: Irrelevant or unsolicited messages distributed over the internet, generally to a significant number of users, typically for advertising, phishing, or malware spreading.
Tor Browser: A web browser that hides online identity by routing the connection through various servers worldwide.
Threat Intelligence: Highly strategic knowledge about existing or emerging threats that can harm organizations. This information is used to impact decision-making processes about security measures.
Threat Modeling:Threat modeling is a process used in cybersecurity to identify, understand, and prioritize potential threats to a system. It often involves creating a diagram that outlines the data flow, identifying assets and vulnerabilities within a system, and then determining the potential threats based on these vulnerabilities.
Virtual Private Network (VPN):A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a security protocol that establishes a secure and private connection over a public internet connection. By encrypting data and disguising the user's IP address, a VPN creates a virtual network that ensures data confidentiality, integrity, and privacy.
By disguising the user's IP address, a VPN also helps protect their identity and location. Instead of directly connecting to the internet using their own IP address, the user's internet traffic appears to originate from the VPN server's IP address. This provides an additional layer of privacy, making it more difficult for third parties to track or trace the user's online activities.
Wi-Fi Security Protocols (WPA, WEP, WPA2): Security techniques to safeguard information across your Wi-Fi network against unauthorized access.
White Hat Hacker: An ethical hacker who uses their expertise in coding and computer systems to identify and fix potential system vulnerabilities, thus bolstering security.
Zero-Day Attacks: A cyber-attack that happens on the same day a software weakness is discovered, providing zero days for the software's author to create patches or recommend workarounds to mitigate its impacts.