In cyber security, factors (as used in two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication), 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 and miscreant, 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, 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, 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.