| The ACCC Glossary |
WWW Everyone
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Spoofing is when the bad guy represents himself as being someone else or
as coming from somewhere other than where he is, either to cause trouble or
to gain access to services he isn't otherwise entitled to. Spoofing does happen,
and it can be bad. For example, after the bombing in Oklahoma City, a spoofer
(who has not yet been caught) posted a series of messages on a public bulletin
board that glorified the bombing. The posts were signed with the name and
phone number of a totally innocent person; he received many threatening phone
calls.
Sniffing is when the bad guys use sniffers (software or hardware devices)
to monitor data traveling over the 'Net. (Sniffing is the virtual counterpart
of shoulder surfing.) If the bad guys get your password, they can break into
your account and read your email or get other personal information. And they
can use what they learn from you to break into other people's accounts and
machines.
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