http://www.askoxford.com/worldof ... ubbling_16/?view=uk
The influence that the Internet now exerts on all walks of life has led to greatly increased opportunities — not least for nefariously inclined cybercriminals seeking to subvert the Net for their own gain, break into computer systems, or defraud the gullible.
This huge growth in virtual dodgy dealing is exemplified by the fact that the number of instances of the noun 'scam' on the Oxford English Corpus surged from 347 in 2000 to 3,581 in 2004.
Cybercrime is the blanket term for illegal activities in the virtual world, and the perpetrators are known by a variety of names depending on their particular métier: they include cybercrooks, spear phishers, 419ers (419 is the section number of the Nigerian penal code under which email scammers are prosecuted in that country), crackers (who break into a computer system for illegal purposes), scammers, or black hats (from Western films in which the 'baddies' were often identifiable by the black hats they wore).
Offences range from infecting millions of computers with malware (malicious software, such as a virus) and myriad scams intended to part people from their money to cybersmearing (online defamation, the sullying of reputations by 'word of mouse').
Many are the e-frauds which persuade computer users to disclose personal information such as bank account details, with techno-savvy crooks employing the latest developments in IT to exploit their targets (often dubbed scammees) and generating a raft of new words into the bargain.
The term phishing, first recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1996, refers to the sending of bogus emails that pretend to be from reputable sources such as financial institutions so as to persuade people to reveal PIN numbers, passwords, etc. to the phishers, who then empty the scammees' bank accounts.
Variants of this include:
spear phishing, the sending of targeted and personalized (and therefore more credible) phishing emails, ostensibly from a colleague or organization known to the recipient.
vishing [a blend of VOIP and phishing] the use of Voice Over Internet Protocol technology to phone people via their computers: they hear a recording purporting to be from their credit-card organization and asking them to call a fake number and key in their credit-card number, date of birth, and other details.
SMiShing [a blend of SMS and phishing] the sending of text messages to mobile-phone users which try to trick them into clicking on a weblink that would download a virus to the phone and enable it to be used as a zombie device (one that can be used for nefarious online purposes without the owner's knowledge).
pharming [a respelling of farming, after phishing] according to Guardian Unlimited (17/3/06) 'this is when a web address is effectively hijacked so when you type mybank.co.uk into your computer you end up at filthycrook.com, which is disguised to look genuine'.
Those who work to combat all these offences may be termed cybercops, white hats (who in particular try to thwart the activities of crackers and black hats), scambusters, or experts in cyberforensics.
Scambaiters derive great enjoyment from taking on the scammers at their own game: they pretend to fall for their pitch, string them along (often making them do foolish things), and waste their time and money in the process.
Here's hoping the good guys stay vigilant: the words of the US TV series NYPD Blue 'hey, let's be careful out there' are equally applicable to the virtual world as to the mean streets of NYC.
Author: Catherine Soanes
Date: 01/02/2007
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本帖最後由 白貓兒 於 2007-6-6 09:20 編輯 ]
