Compresses and decompresses media data. Different formats use different codecs, like MP3 for audio and MPEG for video.

Attempting to guess a password by systematically trying every possible combination of characters.

A digital fingerprint of some data. Used to verify that files haven’t been tampered with.

Adding random data to a hash to make it harder to crack. A pinch of salt keeps your hash secure!

A vulnerability that’s exploited before the software maker knows about it and can fix it.

A Distributed Denial of Service attack. When botnets flood a target system to overwhelm and crash it.

Exploiting human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. Phishing is a prime example.

Automated malware that lets hackers remotely control your computer.

Malware that bombards you with unwanted ads. More annoying than dangerous, but still a pain.

Malware that burrows deep into your system to hide itself. Notoriously hard to detect and remove.