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Dictionary of Terms

What’s the difference between phishing and pharming? What’s spoofing? And are you more likely to be attacked by a worm or a Trojan horse?

Keeping track of the online security terms is a full-time job. But we’ve made it easy with this dictionary of terms. Just select a word or phrase to the left for the definition. We’ll continue to update the list as new technologies emerge or threats arise, so check back from time to time.

HTTPS

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a version of HTTP that adds encryption and authentication capabilities to Web interactions. It is widely used for security-sensitive communications such as payment transactions and corporate logins. The presence of the "s" in "https://" is an easy way to identify that the Web page you are on is secure. If you are on an unsecured Web page and wish to secure it, simply inserting an "s" after the "http" forces your browser to establish a secure session immediately, as long as a certificate is present. Once you add the "s" you should verify that there is a valid certificate present by following the instructions found on our How to Tell if a Site is Secure page.

Use this tool to quickly find out if your favorite e-commerce, banking, or other Web sites have been issued VeriSign SSL Certificates. Just enter the Web address and click "verify."
Note: Verify Before You Buy is currently limited to generic top-level domain VeriSign SSL Certificates. If the URL that you're investigating has a country code top-level domain, such as .co.uk or .de, you should use alternate means of evaluating the security of the Web site. Learn more >>
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