Dictionary

Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Information that relates to your personal identity, such as dates of birth, mother's maiden name, social security numbers, phone numbers, and other personally relevant information.

pharming: The practice of redirecting Internet traffic from real sites to fakes that imitate the legitimate sites.

phishing: An email scam where the criminal sends emails, supposedly from reputable companies, in an attempt to dupe people into revealing personal information and online passports.

pretexting: Stealing personal information by calling family, friends, and other sources in an attempt to acquire personal information about the victim.

service pack: Updates, bug repairs, patches, and program extras delivered through a single downloadable file instead of individually.

shoulder surfing: A common identity theft strategy: loitering around ATMs attempting to spot other people's personal identification numbers. Some criminals use binoculars to watch the ATM from a safe distance.

spam: Unwanted and unsolicited email that is sent to multiple mailing lists, newsgroups, and personal emails.

spyware: Any software that gathers personal information and sends it to another person without the explicit permission of the user. Keyloggers and programs that monitor surfing habits can both be spyware.