NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository

Appendix
Glossary for cybercrime
(The definitions in this glossary were gleamed from numerous sources including the BBC
News and Wikipedia.)
1) Adware: unwanted programs that, once installed, bombard users with unwanted
adverts. Often those pushing the adware programs get paid for every machine they
manage to recruit. Some adware poses as fake computer security software, and it can
be very hard to remove.
2) Blackhat hackers: also known as ‘Crackers’, are hackers, who use their skills
for explicitly criminal or malicious ends. They penetrate systems and often modify
and/or destroy data. The terms used to refer to writers of destructive viruses or those
that use attacks to knock websites offline. Now it is likely to refer to those that steal
credit card numbers and banking data with viruses or by phishing.
3) Botnet: the word is generally used to refer to a collection of compromised
computers (called ‘zombie’ computers or ‘bots’— as abbreviation of ‘robots’) running
software, usually installed via worms, Trojan horses, or backdoors, under a common
command & control infrastructure, controlled by a single person. The majority of these
computers are running Microsoft Windows operating systems, but other operating
systems can be affected. The biggest botnets can have tens of thousands of hijacked
computers in them. Recent research suggests they can be hired from as little as 4 cents
per machine.
4) Botnet herder: one of the names for the controller or operator of a botnet.
5) Carder: someone who steals or trades exclusively in stolen credit card numbers
and their associated information.
6) Cash-out: a euphemism for stealing money from a bank account or credit card
to which someone has gained illegal access. Hackers who grab credit card data often do
not possess the skills or contacts to launder the money they can steal this way.
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