Copying audio or video data from one format to another, like CD tracks to MP3 files.

Playing media in real-time as it’s sent over the internet. Services like Spotify and Netflix use streaming.

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!

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

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

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

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

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