Adware, Phishing, Spam, Spyware
What do the words mean?
- Adware is software that has been installed on your computer by a remote site and continues to generate advertising even when you are not running the originally desired program.
- Phishing is e-mail fraud where the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking e-mails that appear to come from well known and trustworthy Web sites in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from the recipient. UMass Boston users are kept to-to-date about such attempts.
A phishing expedition, like the fishing expedition it's named for, is a speculative venture: the phisher puts the lure hoping to fool at least a few of the prey that encounter the bait
- Spam is unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. Spam is roughly equivalent to unsolicited telephone marketing calls, except that the user pays for part of the message since everyone shares the cost of maintaining the Internet. UMass Boston’s constantly updated spam filter blocks most junk mail.
- Spyware is a general term for a program that surreptitiously monitors your actions