Social Engineering Social engineering, in the context of computer security, refers to tricking people into divulging personal information or other confidential data. It is an umbrella term that includes phishing, pharming, and other types of manipulation. While “social engineering” may sound innocuous (since it is similar to social networking), it refers specifically to malicious acts …
Social Media Social media refers to online activity where people interact with each other by sharing photos, videos, blog posts, articles, and other user-generated content (UGC). People may share social media content with their friends on a social network like Facebook or with a broader audience of subscribers on a large social media platform like …
Social Networking Social networking is the activity of connecting with other people, often on social media sites, to create new relationships and build existing ones. Websites dedicated to social networking allow people to create profiles, connect with other users, exchange messages, and share information. Social networking activity may happen on large, general-interest social media sites …
Socket A socket is a software component that helps computer programs communicate over a network. The term “socket” evokes a physical socket that you plug a networking cable into and through which all data travels. Applications establish software networking sockets for a similar purpose — all data an application sends out and receives over a …
Spam Spam is a term for any unsolicited bulk message. Spam is usually junk email, but it can also take the form of text messages, phone calls, or social media messages. Many email services include an automatic spam filter that detects spam and sends it to a junk folder instead of the inbox. The goal …
SPF Stands for “Sender Policy Framework.” SPF is a email authentication system designed to prevent email spoofing. It works by verifying that an email message is sent from an authorized IP address. SPF is commonly used alongside DKIM, another email verification technology, though they are not dependent on each other. In order for SPF verification …
Spider A spider is a software program that travels the Web (hence the name “spider”), locating and indexing websites for search engines. All the major search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, use spiders to build and update their indexes. These programs constantly browse the Web, traveling from one hyperlink to another. For example, when …
Spoofing The word “spoof” means to hoax, trick, or deceive. Therefore, in the IT world, spoofing refers tricking or deceiving computer systems or other computer users. This is typically done by hiding one’s identity or faking the identity of another user on the Internet. Spoofing can take place on the Internet in several different ways. …
Static Website A static website contains Web pages with fixed content. Each page is coded in HTML and displays the same information to every visitor. Static sites are the most basic type of website and are the easiest to create. Unlike dynamic websites, they do not require any Web programming or database design. A static …
Streaming Streaming is the playback of music, video, or other media over the Internet while it progressively downloads. Unlike downloading a file directly, a copy of the streamed file is not retained on the device once the playback stops. Media can be streamed to computers, mobile devices, and dedicated streaming devices that connect to a …