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Alerts NoteThese alerts are not, nor were they it meant to be, a comprehensive list. These lists are composed of information that we feel is significant, to the average user. Viruses, Worms and TrojansDefinitionsVirus - A program that can "infect" other programs by modifying them to include a, possibly evolved, copy of itself. Worm - Independent program that replicates from machine to machine, often clogging networks and information systems as it spreads. Trojan - An apparently useful and innocent program containing additional hidden code which allows the unauthorized collection, exploitation, falsification, or destruction of data. AlertsLinksHoaxes and ScamsDefinitionScam - A fraudulent business scheme; a swindle. Hoax - An act intended to deceive or trick.. LinksPhishing (Password Fishing)DefinitionEmails pretending to be from businesses the potential victims deal with - for example, their Internet service provider (ISP), online payment service or bank. The fraudsters tell recipients that they need to "update" or "validate" their billing information to keep their accounts active, and direct them to a "look-alike" Web site of the legitimate business, further tricking consumers into thinking they are responding to a bona fide request. Unknowingly, consumers submit their financial information - not to the businesses - but the scammers, who use it to order goods and services and obtain credit. Links
Cookies, and WebbugsDeffinitionsCookie - Information stored on a user's computer by a Web site so preferences are remembered on future requests. Cookies can be used to track people on the Internet. Webbug - A Web bug is a graphic on a Web page or in an e-mail message
designed to monitor who is reading the page or message. Web bugs are often
invisible because they are typically only 1-by-1 pixels in size. In many cases,
Web bugs are placed on Web pages by third parties interested in collecting data
about visitors to those pages. Adware, Spyware, and ParasitesDefinitionsAdware - Any software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen. The justification for adware is that it helps recover programming development cost and helps to hold down the cost for the user. Spyware - Any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the Internet, spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties. Spyware can get in a computer as a software virus or as the result of installing a new program. Parasite - Unsolicited commercial software which attaches itself to a web browser, and does something, for someone else’s profit. Parasites are usually installed unbeknownst to the user. BackgroundThis problem has grown enormously recently, and many millions of computers are affected. Unsolicited commercial software can typically:
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