Glossary

In cyber security, factors (as used in two-factor authentication (https://www.mynetwatchman.tech//s/f/2fa-two-factor)or multi-factor authentication)(https://www.mynetwatchman.tech//s/f/mfa-multi-factor), are (1) something you know (e.g., password/personal identification number); (2) something you have (e.g., cryptographic identification device, token); and (3) something you are (e.g., biometric).

Person who has, attempts, or intends to commit fraud. Similar to bad actor (https://www.mynetwatchman.tech//s/f/actor-bad-actor)and miscreant,(https://www.mynetwatchman.tech//s/f/miscreant-30717) but includes that the fraudster’s goal is to commit fraud, while other bad actors may have different types of activities, e.g. distributing malware,(https://www.mynetwatchman.tech//s/f/malware-malicious) as their goal.

The act of exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network to gain unauthorized access. While hacking can be used for ethical purposes, such as identifying vulnerabilities in a system, it is mainly considered a malicious act. Types of hacking include credential stuffing, phishing, malware, and DDos attacks. Often used interchangeably with cracking,(https://www.mynetwatchman.tech//s/f/cracking-hacking) though not technically identical.

In cryptography, hashing and salting are security practices that are often used to improve the security of passwords. Hashing (creating a hash) converts data into a fixed-size, unique string of characters. Hashing a password doesn’t reveal any information about the password, but the hash can be figured out by brute force or reverse engineering. Salting adds a random, pre-defined set of characters to the input before hashing. This makes the password, for example, much more difficult to determine.