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London (pte046/06.04.2005/14:30) - The average home computer user is confused by technology jargon that is used to warn people about the most serious security threats. As the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk reports, many people are left vulnerable as they have no idea what they are supposed to be protecting themselves against, according to a new survey from AOL UK. "Geek speak" used by experts includes "phishing", "rogue dialler", "Trojan" and "spyware".
As the BBC reports, 84 per cent did not know that phishing describes faked E-Mail scams. The most common phishing scam is one used to con people into handing over bank account details online. Only a quarter said they knew what "spyware" was, although one in 10 of those thought it was a computer program that kept an eye on unfaithful partners. "Some of the terms being bandied around are more suitable for a computer programmers' convention than for people who want to go online at home," said Will Smith, AOL's Internet security expert. "If Internet users can't understand the language used to describe these risks, they are going to find it hard to protect themselves from being ripped off."
The "Do you speak geek?" report found that 83 per cent of people were worried about personal information getting into the wrong hands. However, only 39 per cent knew what a "Trojan" was when asked. A Trojan is a malicious piece of software that installs itself on a person's computer without their knowledge. One of the most common security threats on the Internet, it hides in the background and can trigger programs to run that steal personal information or details stored on that computer, for example. 16 per cent of people questioned had never heard of the term "spam" to describe unsolicited E-Mail, even though 76 per cent were worried about junk e-mails. 20 per cent admitted they did not know what to do to protect themselves online.
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