NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository
NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository
NESTA Crime Online - University of Brighton Repository
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14) Hacker: person involved in computer security/insecurity, specialising in the<br />
discovery <strong>of</strong> exploits in systems (for exploitation or prevention), or in obtaining or<br />
preventing unauthorised access to systems through skills, tactics and detailed<br />
knowledge. Depending <strong>of</strong> the motivation there are differentiations between black-hat<br />
hacker (a malicious or criminal hacker), white-hat hacker (ethical hackers) and grey-hat<br />
hackers (ethically ambiguous).<br />
15) Honeypot: an individual computer or a network <strong>of</strong> machines set up to look like a<br />
poorly protected system but which records every attempt, successful or otherwise, to<br />
compromise it. Often the first hints <strong>of</strong> a new rash <strong>of</strong> malicious programs come from the<br />
evidence collected by honeypots. Now cybercriminals are tuning their malware to spot<br />
when it has compromised a honeypot and to leave without taking over.<br />
16) IP Address: the numerical identifier that every machine attached to the Internet<br />
needs to ensure the data it requests returns to the right place. IP is an acronym <strong>of</strong><br />
Internet Protocol and the technical specification defines how this numerical system<br />
works.<br />
17) Malware: portmanteau term for all malicious s<strong>of</strong>tware covers any unwanted<br />
program that makes its way on to a computer. Derived from Malicious s<strong>of</strong>tware.<br />
18) Peer-to-peer networks (P2P): in a P2P network the ‘peers’ are computer<br />
systems that are connected to each other via the Internet. Files can be shared directly<br />
between systems on the network without the need <strong>of</strong> a central server. In other words,<br />
each computer on a P2P network becomes a file server as well as a client. Once<br />
connected to the network, P2P s<strong>of</strong>tware allows you to search for files on other people's<br />
computers. Meanwhile, other users on the network can search for files on your<br />
computer, but typically only within a single folder that you have designated to share.<br />
19) Phishing: the criminally fraudulent process <strong>of</strong> attempting to acquire sensitive<br />
information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as<br />
a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. The practice is <strong>of</strong>ten done by<br />
sending e-mails that look as if they come from a financial institution and that seek to<br />
trick people into handing over confidential details. Often they direct people to another<br />
website that looks like that <strong>of</strong> the bank or financial institution the e-mail purports to<br />
have come from.<br />
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