Glossary
Plain-language definitions of the terms used across this site.
- BEC (business email compromise)
- A scam where a fraudster poses as a boss or supplier by email to get an urgent payment or a change of bank details.
- HTML smuggling
- A trick that hides a harmful file inside an HTML attachment, so it is built on your device when you open it.
- Smishing (SMS phishing)
- Phishing sent by text message: a fake parcel, bank or tax alert with a link meant to steal your details.
- Typosquatting (look-alike domains)
- A fake website or email address whose name is one letter off from a real one, hoping you won't notice the typo.
- Vishing (voice phishing)
- Phishing by phone call: a fake bank, police or tech-support agent pressures you to give codes or move money.
- CEO fraud (business email compromise)
- A scam where a criminal poses as a manager, colleague or supplier to get an urgent payment, new bank details or gift cards.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
- A digital signature added to emails that proves they were sent by a domain and weren't altered on the way.
- DMARC
- A policy a domain publishes to tell mail providers what to do with emails that fail its SPF and DKIM checks.
- Phishing
- An email, text or message that pretends to come from a trusted organization to steal your passwords, card details or money.
- Quishing (QR code phishing)
- Phishing that hides the malicious link inside a QR code, often in an email image, a letter or a sticker.
- Sextortion email
- A mass blackmail email claiming to have intimate videos of you and demanding payment, usually in bitcoin.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
- A public list, published by a domain, of the servers allowed to send email on its behalf.
- Email spoofing
- Faking the sender of an email so it appears to come from someone else, such as your bank, your boss or even yourself.