f1anatic Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/printer_friendly/news_logo.gif 'Geek speak' confuses net users The average home computer user is bamboozled by technology jargon which is used to warn people about the most serious security threats online. Many are often left vulnerable because they have no idea what they are supposed to be protecting themselves against, a survey for AOL UK has found. Confusing "geek speak" used by experts and media included "phishing", "rogue dialler", "Trojan" and "spyware". Eighty-four percent did not know that phishing describes faked e-mail scams. The most common phishing scam is one used to con people into handing over bank account details online. JARGON EXPLAINED Virus: Malicious program designed to damage data; usually spread via infected e-mail attachments Trojan: Malicious software disguised as harmless program Firewall: Software to protect computers against hackers Keylogging: Software/hardware to track keystrokes on a computer to gather passwords, credit card numbers Pharming: When fraudsters redirect net users from legitimate to fake sites Phishing: Fraudulent e-mails and pop-ups to fool you into revealing personal information for criminal gain Rogue dialler: Software that installs itself on computers and changes settings to dial a premium rate number instead of usual dial-up account Spam: Unsolicited e-mails, often offering products or services in which you have no interest Spyware: Small programs that secretly monitor sites visited, potentially violating privacy and slowing computers Source: AOL UK A quarter said they knew what "spyware" was, although almost one in 10 of those thought it was a computer program that kept an eye on unfaithful partners. "Some of the terms being bandied around are more suitable for a computer programmers' convention than for people who want to go online at home, " said Will Smith, AOL's net security expert. "If internet users can't understand the language used to describe these risks, they are going to find it hard to protect themselves from being ripped off." It is particuarly important that people know what threats there are to security online, and how they can easily protect themselves, as more people get high-speed net connections. "Keylogging" is a particular threat that hit the headlines recently. Computer criminals, who unsuccessfully attempted to steal money from Sumitomo Mitsui bank last month, used keylogging to record every key pressed on the bank's computers to get at sensitive passwords and other data. Horse in my PC? The "Do you speak geek?" report found that 83% people were worried about personal information getting into the wrong hands. STAYING SAFE ONLINE Install anti-virus software Keep your anti-virus software up to date Install a personal firewall Use Windows updates to patch security holes Do not open e-mail messages that look suspicious Do not click on e-mail attachments you were not expecting Yet, only 39% knew what a "Trojan" was when asked. A Trojan is a malicious piece of software which installs itself on a person's computer without their knowledge. One of the most common net security threats, it hides in the background and can trigger programs to run that steal personal information or details stored on that computer, for instance. A surprising 16% had never heard of the term "spam" to describe unsolicited e-mail, even though 76% were worried about junk e-mails. Twenty percent admitted they did not know what to do to protect themselves generally online. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/4413155.stm Published: 2005/04/06 08:09:09 GMT © BBC MMV postamble(); Maybe more appropriate for the CHAT forum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy05GT Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 i think these terms are not GEEK, they've become mainstream.... ...or maybe thats just cuz i'm a geek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 I took some survey a bit back and I'm more of a geek wannabe than a real geek aparently, but I think I know more geek than the average person. I need to play with UNIX and command line a bit more and I'll be a true geek then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlew308 Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 cat flames > /dev/null Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbuktu Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 When I saw that title posted on /. I thought they were talking about l33t speak, which I can read, but certainly drives me insane. Then, I read the blurb and realized they were talking about tech jargon I was thinking CORBA, SOAP, JSP, ASP, PHP, HTML, etc. Then I finally read the article and realized they were talking about virii and trojan horses and I shrugged my shoulders and came back to the same conclusion I always come up with: The average consumer is not so average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlew308 Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 /. used to be so cool. Now it feels too M$ friendly Aww the good ol days of /. Such a pity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rony Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 I'm so geek, I work on Unix all day..... My Car vBGarage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melayout Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 /. used to be so cool. Now it feels too M$ friendly Aww the good ol days of /. Such a pity More like DUPE friendly. I keed I keeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlew308 Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 Can I write unix without sco suing me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godwhomismike Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 DM talks in l33t sp33k :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 i think these terms are not GEEK, they've become mainstream.... ...or maybe thats just cuz i'm a geek. +1. I've even run into people who aren't computer literate that are familiar with "404". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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