Glossary of identity theft terms
By Bankrate.com

Bamboozled by bots? Annoyed by adware? Use this glossary to get a handle on commonly used terms by researchers in the field of identity fraud.

Glossary of identity theft terms

1. Adware 15. Plug-in 2. Antispyware 16. Red flag rules 3. Antivirus 17. Social Security number tumbling 4. Authentication 18. Spam 5. Bot 19. Spim 6. Dual factor identification rules 20. Spit 7. Firewall 21. Spoofing 8. Identity cloning 22. Spyware 9. Identity fraud 23. Synthetic identity fraud 10. Identity theft 24. Trojan horse 11. Image spam 25. Virus 12. Malware 26. Vishing 13. Nigerian scam 27. Worm 14. Phishing

1. Adware -- Software that serves up ads based on your previous searches. Free software can come with adware that pays for its use. Generally adware differs from spyware in that it notifies the user of how the program works and its intent.

2. Antispyware -- Software that removes or blocks spyware.

3. Antivirus -- Antivirus software protects your computer against malware. It scans the hard drive for viruses and removes them. It also looks for aberrant behavior in programs that can signal an infection.

4. Authentication -- The process of verifying identity.

5. Bot -- Short for robot. A computer program that performs automated tasks. Can be used maliciously to scan for passwords, search browsing history, capture keystrokes, send spam and report information to a third party across the Internet.