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Whether your online experience is to access your email, for social networking site, to browse for entertainment, or go shopping, be aware there are people prepared to steal data from your computer. Your identity, your credit, and your family information can be compromised.
Find out about different types of threats and how you can protect your personal information:
Patches and Updates | Secure Communication | Social Media Safety | Phishing
Passwords | File-sharing | Viruses | Spyware | Back Up Your Files
Adware: Any advertisement-related software which automatically downloads and displays ads on a computer.
Browser: An application you can use to access the Internet and visit websites. Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer, are examples of browsers.
Domain: A domain is a name for an IP address and is more commonly recognized as a website or web address. For example, adelphi.edu and google.com are domains.
Identity Theft: A criminal action in which a person uses another person’s identity for their own purposes including credit card purchases.
File Backup: The saving of files to alternative locations for loss protection. Such resources include flash drives, external hard drives and online backup servers.
Firewall: A hardware or software based device that blocks unauthorized access into a computer system.
Malware: Malicious software which when installed on a computer can cause damage. Examples include viruses, worms, Trojan horses and spyware.
P2P / File-Sharing: Peer-to-peer is any network that connects a number of computers to one networking program, thereby allowing each user access to another computer’s files. Some examples are KaZaa, Napster and LimeWire.
Pharming: A scam that redirects users to fraudulent websites that resemble an official site.
Phishing: Emails that are made to appear as though they are from a recognized source and are designed to trick you into submitting your vital information (e.g. bank account, social security, credit card numbers, and passwords to accounts).
Social Media: Online communication used by large groups of people to share information. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Foursquare are examples of social media.
Spam: Unsolicited, usually commercial or objectionable form of communication (e.g. using email, instant messaging, etc.) sent to a large number of recipients. These are usually harmless, yet annoying.
Spoofing: Technique used by hackers to gather personal and confidential information. Spoofing emails are usually false emails with false trustworthy senders asking for confidential information.
Spyware: Malicious software installed on your computer hard drive to collect information without the user being aware.
Virus: Emails with attachments which, when clicked on, launch harmful attacks against your computer.
