Glossary

A form of malicious activity where the attacker secretly accesses, relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are communicating directly with each other.

An instruction that causes the execution of a predefined sequence of instructions.

Intending or intended to do harm.

Humans or non-human entities that conduct malicious activities, such as cyber espionage, cyber attacks or cyber-enabled crime.

The use of online advertising to spread malware. It typically involves injecting malicious or malware-laden advertisements into legitimate online advertising networks and web pages.

Any software that attempts to subvert the confidentiality, integrity or availability of a system.

The occurrence of malicious code infecting a system.

An email which has been deliberately crafted to cause problems on the server or on the client. This could be by making the message contain a virus, or crafting the message in such a way as to take advantage of a weakness in the receiving mail client.

A trusted employee or contractor who deliberately and wilfully breach their duty to maintain the security of privileged information, techniques, technology, assets or premises. This could include a self-motivated insider, who is an individual whose actions are undertaken of their own volition, and not initiated as the result of any connection to, or direction by, a third party. It could also be a recruited insider, who is co-opted by a third party to specifically exploit their potential, current or former privileged access. This includes individuals cultivated and recruited by a foreign intelligence service (FIS), or other entity with malicious intent.

A malicious link is created with the purpose of promoting scams, attacks and frauds. By clicking on an infected URL, you can download malware such as a Trojan or virus that can take control of your devices, or you can be persuaded to provide sensitive information on a fake website.