Glossary
The terms used in these notes, in plain language.
- Authenticator app
- An app on your phone that shows a new six-digit code every 30 seconds. You type the code as the second step when signing in.
- Backup
- A separate copy of your files, kept somewhere a problem with the original cannot reach.
- Business email compromise
- Fraud in which someone poses as a manager, colleague or supplier by email to redirect a payment or obtain data.
- Credential
- Anything that proves who you are to a service: usually a username with a password, sometimes a key or a code.
- Data breach
- An incident in which information held by an organisation is copied or exposed to people who should not have it.
- Disk encryption
- A setting that stores everything on a device in scrambled form. Without the password or PIN, a lost device shows nothing readable.
- Factory reset
- A function that returns a device to the state in which it left the factory and removes accounts, apps and settings.
- Firmware
- The software built into a device such as a router. It needs updates like any other software.
- Malware
- Software written to do harm: steal data, spy, or lock files.
- Multifactor authentication
- Signing in with a password and at least one more proof, such as a code, a prompt on your phone or a security key.
- Passkey
- A replacement for a password that is stored on your device and unlocked with a fingerprint, face or PIN. It works only on the real site.
- Passkey
- A sign-in key stored on your device and unlocked with your fingerprint, face or PIN. It works only on the real site, so it cannot be phished.
- Password manager
- A program that creates, stores and fills in a different password for every account.
- Phishing
- A message that pretends to come from someone you trust in order to get a password, a payment or an opened file.
- Ransomware
- Malware that encrypts files and demands payment for the key.
- Ransomware
- Malicious software that encrypts files and demands payment for the key.
- Shoulder surfing
- Reading a screen or watching someone type a PIN or password from nearby, in person or with a camera.
- Social engineering
- Persuading a person to do something unsafe, instead of breaking into a system by technical means.
- Tailgating
- Entering a building or room by following closely behind someone who has opened the door with their own badge or key.
- Tech support scam
- A fake warning or call that persuades you to give remote access to your computer and to pay for a “repair”.