Cyber criminals stalk the internet looking for victims, or even actively try to attack computers. Most of us have heard of viruses and phishing, but there is a lot more to this murky world.
Beginning a career in cyber crime is probably not the ideal solution to unemployment, lack of money and increasing financial pressures for most of us. However, there are those around who move in these somewhat shady circles.
The hi-tech criminal side of the internet has its own special slang language that many of us don’t come into contact with unless we get ‘hit’ by one of these crimes. So, as you sleep at night, hoping that your personal details have not been stolen from you computer, or you have not been taken over by a botnet herder, be aware that it can and very well might happen to you.
This is indeed the stuff of nightmares.
Blackhat
These are computer hackers who engage in criminal, or malicious behaviour on the internet. They are the writers of destructive viruses and thieves of personal data like your bank details, credit card numbers and other financial data.
Botnet
A botnet is a group of computers which have been hijacked and are operated by a single person by way of the internet. The word ‘bot’ refers to robots which are normally home computers which have been taken over by using a virus. How do you catch these viruses? You can get them from opening emails containing them, pick them up from websites (drive by viruses). Worms can also infect your computer and have the same effect. The main different between a virus and a worm is that a virus needs a program to run in but a worm can work by itself.
Botnet herder
A botnet herder is a person who controls the bots in a botnet, as described above.
Carder
This is exactly what it sounds like. A carder is a person who trades in stolen credit card numbers.
Cash-out
To cash-out is to steal money from a bank account, or credit card, after gaining illegal access to the details.
Dead-drop
This is a hi-jacked computer (or a server) which is used to store personal data which has been stolen by keyloggers, spyware or viruses.
Ddos
This acronym stands for Distribution Denial of service. It refers to an attack in which thousands of computers send false data to a target, in an effort to knock it off the internet. This is often used as a threat and a ransom is demanded. Banks and credit card gateways have been attacked in this and major retail sites have also been knocked off the internet. A quick look on Wikipedia will uncover an alarming array of DDOS instances carried out in different ways.
Drive by download
Some websites are deliberately set up so that any passing visitor picks up a malicious program which installs automatically. In other words, the victim is not aware of this. Some search engines, including Google, can be set up to warn you that a site may be dangerous.
Honeypot
This is a trap set up to detect and catch hackers. A network, or computer may look poorly protected to potential intruders, but it has deliberately been left that way to catch these criminals.
Keylogger
A keylogger is a small program installed on a computer to record every keystroke and steal passwords and login details.
Malware
This is a name given to any malicious software.
Phishing
This is something we have all seen in our email boxes. Phishing is sending out bogus emails in an attempt to trick people into handing over confidential information.
Spyware
This is also a kind of malicious program that aims to steal personal and confidential information. This kind of program is also used to gather information about sites visited and interests in order to direct spam email at seemingly interesting parties.
Trojan
Trojans are programs, or messages usually attached to emails, which look quite ordinary but are actually harmful to a computer.
WHITEHAT
This is a word used to denote a computer hacker who works to stop malicious hackers (blackhats).
ZOMBIE
This is a different name for a computer which has been hijacked and become part of a botnet.
Now you know enough about the language cyber criminals use to worry you. There is lots more information available all over the internet if you want to know more about these activities, or how to protect yourself from them. Good virus protection is a great start and a firewall gives added security. However, this needs to be updated regularly and even then it won’t give you 100% protection.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Thanks Louie for the information, I knew about some of them but certainly not all. Great article very informative.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:08 am
Nicely done! Just an addendum: No matter how good your security, a computer that accesses the internet is at risk. Keep backups, keep sensitive material on passworded USB drives, keep hard copy, and don’t leave your deepest skeletons on your hard drive!
February 17th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Ha Ha louie I remember when you were sent to my virus box as suspicious on my email…even you my friend, even you LOL
This was very interesting, I had not heard of some of these. Thanks for making us more aware.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:26 am
Yike..they all sound so terrible! I’ve heard some of these, but you give us more to watch out for!
February 17th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Wow! Thank you very much for sharing this info. It is really a big help and early warning for the internet users like us.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Nice article, information, and advice Louie. A lot of criminals out there in the cyber world waiting to prey on the vulnerable. Very lucrative and rewarding to some of them, until they get caught. Thanks for getting the message out. Well done.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Thank you for another informative article.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Thanks for sharing the info.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:55 am
viruses are so scary…
thanks for the info, louie
February 17th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
I guess we really do want to know (i.e. informed rather than experienced) about them – forewarned being forearmed.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
..And what colour hat do you wear, Louie?
February 17th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Good grief! D’you mean all these nasties are prowling about in my study when I’m asleep, Louie. Nice informative article.
February 17th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Thanks for this fab article.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Well, Fegger, my hat is red, really bright scarlet red! Work that one out.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Great info, Louie. We just can’t be careful enough. And I love the red hat society! Great job!
Take car & G♥d bless!
February 17th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
This is very useful information and worth knowing about. I like to say our computers are protected like fort knox and I have been lucky but Ron has had a couple of unfortunate attacks. It doesn’t matter how safe you think you are, there is always someone who seems to be one up on you.
I never heard of ddos, botnet, or whitehat
Thanks for the information, Louie.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Thanks for the information.
Inna
February 18th, 2009 at 5:22 am
Cool – I will put this link in to my students’ VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) so they can read too…
February 18th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Some terms that I have never come across before. Thanks Louie
February 19th, 2009 at 10:37 am
You opened my eyes to the unpleasant truth. Thanks
February 20th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Marvelous article, thanks for the info
February 21st, 2009 at 9:32 pm
this is kinda scary! thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention!
February 24th, 2009 at 10:20 am
This is great info and advice. Thanks for posting — being aware that all this stuff is out there will help one notice when something goes awry. Nicely done!