A-Z of data protection - W is for ...

A-Z of data protection: terms you need to know

W

weak artificial intelligence (weak AI)
• a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that is goal-oriented, designed to perform single tasks, and is very intelligent in completing the task it was programmed to do
• the type of AI that exists today. Applications include image recognition, recommendation engines, prediction models, chatbots and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa

web beacon
• also known as clear GIFs, web bugs or pixel tags, web beacons are often used in conjunction with cookies to track user behaviour, such as interactions with ads, downloads and emails
• while they are not used to access personally identifiable information, they can be used to produce statistics and profiles

whaling or whale phishing
• a type of email phishing wherein malicious actors target a top executive at a company, perhaps even impersonating such a prominent individual, and send emails to trick the executive or other employees into releasing money, sensitive data or network access

white-hat hacker 
• “ethical” hackers who simulate cyber attacks and conduct penetration testing; they may be hired by organisations to “hack” into their systems in order to detect flaws or vulnerabilities

worm
• a type of malware that replicates itself across a network even without any human activation or intervention