Terminology

New terms will be added periodically.

Several online Glossaries already exist on this site and we do not intend to repeat them, rather our goal is to supplement them.

Bot
A slang or abbreviated term for a “robot”.

Botnet
A computer network that sends “bots” onto the Web to search for website details.

Not all are bad, some, for instance the array of “googlebots” that cover, or “spider” a website, do so to index the information and links contained there.

However, the term has come to have a negative connotation from the bad actions of some botnets in harvesting email addresses for spam attacks, spoofing and phishing for organizations and individuals to cheat and victimize.

Honey Pot (Honey Trap)
A web page and/or site that either detects or tricks bad Spambots into revealing their IP address as well as waste their resources in endless download loops.

Phish (Phishing)

An email fraud wherein a spammer sends spam emails to one or more prospective victims to trick them into revealing passwords and other secure information about their assets, such as a bank account or credit card account access information. Often Phishers create the false appearance, or “Spoof” of a Bank or credit card company.

Some even go as far as to direct the prospective victim to a false website that appears to be the genuine version where they would normally interact with their online account.

Spam
Unsolicited email that a recipient does not want to receive.

Spambot
A program that spammers use to harvest email addresses from the Internet. A combination of the slang for “robot” and “Spam”

Spam trap
An option on an online form that is pre-selected by default, so that unwary users opt-in to receive spam. It can also be used to refer to a software filter that blocks email addresses known to send spam.

Spoofing
When spammers forge an email address to hide the origin of a spam message. Email scammers and virus writers also use this trick. They also can “Spoof” or appear to be something that they are not.

Scammers spoof address lines to fool people into thinking an email has arrived from a legitimate source, such as an online bank. Similarly, virus writers have passed off viruses as security patches by spoofing their origin as being, for example, from Microsoft technical support.

Storm

A botnet, a reportedly very large, bad botnet that infects both home computers and websites. Reported to have infected somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 computers worldwide.

YANL:

An acronym for: Yet Another Nigerian Letter, a 419 scam that has been around since before the Internet. It has made plenty of people poorer by suggesting that they can collect a “finder’s fee” for helping transfer money. Originated in Nigeria and has been widely imitated and modified. See our web links and stories about YANL.

We regularly publish copies of some of the silly emails we receive from perpetrators of the scam as examples of the variations that exist even today. As more and more gullible people start to use the Internet, these scammers will continue to grow rich we fear.

Zombie
A computer that has been invaded by a virus or rootkit and creates a virtual slave within the computer unknown to the owner or user.