E-Mail Security Terminology

The following definitions were gathered from dictionary.com .

spam

unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail.

virus

a software program capable of reproducing itself and usually capable of causing great harm to files or other programs on the same computer; "a true virus cannot spread to another computer without human assistance"

worm

a software program capable of reproducing itself that can spread from one computer to the next over a network; "worms take advantage of automatic file sending and receiving features found on many computers"

trojan

a program that appears desirable but actually contains something harmful; "the contents of a trojan can be a virus or a worm"; "when he downloaded the free game it turned out to be a trojan horse"

phishing

the practice of luring unsuspecting Internet users to a fake Web site by using authentic-looking email with the real organization's logo, in an attempt to steal passwords, financial or personal information, or introduce a virus attack; the creation of a Web site replica for fooling unsuspecting Internet users into submitting personal or financial information or passwords

bayesian

pertaining to statistical methods based on Thomas Bayes' probability theorem involving prior knowledge and accumulated experience