Computer crime and cyber security

A phishing email is one which

• requests a payment for goods you have not received
• offers you products in which you may have no interest
• encourages you to click on a link to a fraudulent website
• contains abusive and threatening language

If you receive an email from a well-known company, but its name is misspelt in the sender’s address, you should:

• click on the link in the email to check if it’s genuine
• reply, pointing out the error
• report it as a possible phishing scam
• forward the email to a friend to check

A fraudulent email which is trying to obtain your username and password for a particular site will typically:

• have a heading with a logo which appears genuine
• address you by name
• offer large sums of money
• appear to come from a friend

You can tell whether a link in email will take you to a genuine website, for example belonging to a bank, without risk, by:

• pointing to the link without clicking
• deleting the email
• replying to the email
• clicking on the link

Hacking is illegal under:

• The Data Protection Act
• The Computer Misuse Act 
• Copyright Law
• Health and Safety Law

You receive a desperate plea for help from a friend who says they are stuck overseas and all their money has been stolen. You should:

• reply to the email
• delete the email
• send some money
• forward the email to a mutual friend

Gaining unauthorised access to someone else’s computer files is known as:

• copyright infringement
• hacking
• virus attack
• data theft

You can protect yourself against spam or fraudulent emails by:

• using a spam filter
• never clicking on links that you are suspicious of
• being aware of different types of fraudulent email
• all of these

Under the Computer Misuse Act, it is illegal to:

• look at someone else’s computer files without permission
• look at someone else’s computer files without permission with intent to commit further criminal offences
• change data on someone else’s computer files without permission
• all of the these

Hackers:

• will destroy your computer hardware
• are rarely able to steal personal data 
• sometimes steal passwords so they can access your online account
• can only steal one password at a time