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Ransomware
It is a type of malicious software that holds data or devices hostage for a ransom. It threatens to share, block, or
change data if the victim does not meet the attacker's demands. Generally, the payment of the ransom is done via
cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin. Once the payment is made, it sends the decryption key to the victim. Ransomware
may be distributed through phishing emails, adware, or social engineering.
Social engineering is using technology to manipulate users in order to gain unauthorised access to sensitive or
personal information.
8.3.10 Denial of Service
A Denial of Service, or DOS attack renders a machine or network resource unavailable either temporarily or permanently
to its intended users. A DOS attack is typically carried out by sending a lot of false requests to the targeted machine
or resource, which eventually cause the system to become too busy to work. This prevents the processing of genuine
requests, resulting in a denial-of-service to them.
Match the following:
1. Phishing a. Replicates on network
2. Eavesdropping b. Pop-ups in browser for marketing
3. Worm c. An email from someone with pseudo identity
4. Trojan Horse d. Ethical and unethical
5. Hacking e. Secretly recording the conversation
6. Adware f. Looks useful but is harmful
8.4 Browsing the Web Safely
While we use the Internet, our personal information, such as usernames, passwords, date of birth, address, and health
records, may be exposed to malicious users. In order to protect personal information, the following methods can be
useful:
1. Incognito or Private Browsing: In this mode, the browser does not store your browsing history, cookies
(discussed later in this section), or information entered in forms. Figure 9.6 shows the incognito window in the
chrome browser.
Figure 9.6: Incognito mode in Chrome Browser
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