Blackhat: A skilled hacker who hacks for illegal and sinister purposes, sometimes political and economical, and not just for pranks.
Cracker: A person who breaks security on a system. Most crackers' sole aim is to illegally break into and infiltrate computer networks and systems.
Cyberspace: Coined by William Gibson in his 1983 science fiction novel Neuromancer, it is a metaphor for the virtual reality created by the computer world; a kind of outer space that involves communication, travel, and shopping from the keyboard.
DoS Attack: A denial-of-service attack is an attack on a computer system which floods the network, exhausting the bandwidth and forcing the network to crash.
Exploit: A successful 'hack' that takes advantage of an insecure system or a hole in a computer program that allows entry.
Linux: Open-source software that uses a version of Unix; it was created by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish computer scientist and Überhacker.
Phishing: The process of scanning the Net for credit card numbers and social security numbers. This may involve emailing users and claiming to be a business or some sort of online shopping enterprise in order to obtain personal information for identity theft.
Pirate: To copy, distribute, and use without authorization.
Preaking: Using a computer or other device, such as a Cap'n Crunch whistle, to trick phone systems.
Root Kit: A set of tools a hacker, or cracker, uses after breaking into a computer system. These tools allow repeated access to the system and may consist of logins, passwords, processes, and even software to allow easier access into the system.
Script Kiddie: A technologically unsophisticated person who uses a "hacking kit" to break into systems that may have vulnerabilities. Script kiddies rarely contribute new techniques, but simply use existing techniques, programs, and scripts.
Spam: Unwanted or junk email; usually sent by "spammers" who email junk in batches, often exhausting the bandwidth of a network.
Spyware: Installs itself onto a computer when a user clicks on a website containing spyware. The software then monitors visited websites and records habits of the user, sending it back to a main website.
Trojan Horse: A program that damages the host system after it is installed. Trojans are installed invisibly and are often disguised as a benign application or an innocuous game. It could even be a program that purports to get rid of viruses, but installs them instead. The term comes from the story of the Trojan War, in which Greek soldiers hid inside of "the gift" of the Trojan horse.
War Driving: Driving around with a laptop computer, with a wireless card installed, or a wireless LAN adaptor, in order to find unsecured wireless Local Area Networks (LANs). Users can gain free Internet access or access the organization's data illegally.
Wizard: An exceptionally gifted hacker or programmer.
Worm: A program that replicates itself over a computer or a series of networks, often overloading systems and causing them to shut down.
