Cyber Security Word Search with a Clue for Every Term

Press New puzzle for 15 defined cyber security terms, from Phishing to Two-factor, for a digital citizenship lesson.

Name Date

Cyber Security Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 15 words found

TFHDLBFDGWIRLCE

IHFXOEOJVERIFYE

FWAXCOMMVXMSTYA

HEPDKDVOOIDOAMR

RYAHDODINEICMQA

LXSLKPCARNAUPSN

ORSRTELRICEXLCS

GGPPASSWORDNCAO

ARHBACKUPYYNMMM

TDRHSALLPPTLPAW

GPAAERNMATAOOFA

ILSCCSETTINGSGR

EBEKUYWTCOSOPHE

BIEERPHRHNYUAET

NFIREWALLMETMFL

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

RansomwareRANSOMWARE
ScamSCAM
SpamSPAM
FirewallFIREWALL
EncryptionENCRYPTION
BackupBACKUP
PatchPATCH
LockLOCK
SecureSECURE
PasswordPASSWORD
PassphrasePASSPHRASE
VerifyVERIFY
Log outLOG OUT
SettingsSETTINGS
HackerHACKER

15 of 27 words from the Cyber Security list.

Pick two words from the puzzle and write what each one means in your own words.

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Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

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Answer key: Cyber Security Word Search

TFHDLBFDGWIRLCE

IHFXOEOJVERIFYE

FWAXCOMMVXMSTYA

HEPDKDVOOIDOAMR

RYAHDODINEICMQA

LXSLKPCARNAUPSN

ORSRTELRICEXLCS

GGPPASSWORDNCAO

ARHBACKUPYYNMMM

TDRHSALLPPTLPAW

GPAAERNMATAOOFA

ILSCCSETTINGSGR

EBEKUYWTCOSOPHE

BIEERPHRHNYUAET

NFIREWALLMETMFL

RANSOMWARE, SCAM, SPAM, FIREWALL, ENCRYPTION, BACKUP, PATCH, LOCK, SECURE, PASSWORD, PASSPHRASE, VERIFY, LOG OUT, SETTINGS, HACKER

Next step Make a word search from your own terms Make a cyber security word scramble

All 138 words

Online Threats 31

Attack An attempt to break into, damage or shut down a computer system.
Backdoor A hidden, undocumented way into a computer system.
Botnet A crowd of hijacked computers run from afar by one attacker. The name joins robot and network.
Breach When private records get out, or when someone who should not see them gets in.
Clickbait A headline written only to make you tap, which seldom delivers what it promises.
Deepfake A video, picture or voice made by software to show a person doing things they never did.
Exploit A piece of code or a trick that takes advantage of a weakness in a program.
Flaw A mistake in a program that someone could take advantage of.
Fraud Tricking someone in order to take their money or property. It is a crime.
Hijack To take control of something that belongs to someone else, such as an account.
Hoax A false warning or story passed around to fool people.
Impersonate To pretend to be another person or a company in order to fool someone.
Intrusion Getting into a system or a network without permission.
Keylogger A program that secretly records which keys are pressed on a keyboard.

Show all 138 words (124 more)

Online Threats, continued

Lure Something tempting used to draw a person into a trap, like a fake prize.
Malicious Meant to do harm.
Malware Any program made to do harm to a device or to the people who use it.
Phishing A trick message that pretends to come from someone you trust, sent to get your private details.
Ransomware A harmful program that holds a victim's files hostage until money is paid.
Risk The chance that something bad will happen.
Scam A dishonest plan to trick people out of money or private details.
Spam Electronic junk mail, sent to huge numbers of people who never asked for it.
Spoofing Faking a name, a number or an address so that a message seems to come from someone else.
Spyware A program put on a device in secret to gather facts about the person who uses it.
Theft Taking what belongs to somebody else. Online, it can be money, files or a name.
Threat Anything that could cause harm to a system or to the people who use it.
Trojan A program that seems useful but hides a harmful job. The name comes from the wooden horse in the Greek story of Troy.
Virus A harmful program that copies itself into other programs and runs when they do.
Vulnerable Open to harm, because of a weakness that has not been fixed.
Worm A harmful program that spreads from one computer to the next across a network by itself.
Zero-day A flaw that attackers find before the program's makers know about it, leaving them no time to fix it.

Digital Defenses 23

Allowlist A written set of the only apps, sites or senders that are let through. It was once called a whitelist.
Backup A spare copy of files, kept so they can be restored if the first ones are lost.
Certificate A digital document that proves a website is what it claims to be.
Cipher A system for turning a message into secret writing by swapping or shuffling its symbols.
Cyber To do with computers, networks and the online world.
Decrypt To turn scrambled data back into a form that can be read.
Defend To guard against an attack.
Detect To notice that something is wrong, such as a harmful file.
Encryption Scrambling data into a secret form so that only someone with the right key can read it.
Filter A tool that sorts out unwanted messages or sites before they reach you.
Firewall A gateway that limits what may pass between one network and another.
Lock To fasten a screen or a door so that nobody else can get in.
Patch A small fix from the makers of a program that closes a hole or mends a fault.
Plaintext A message before it is scrambled, readable by anyone.
Protect To keep a person, a device or data from harm.
Quarantine To shut a harmful file away where it cannot run or spread.
Safeguard A step or a tool put in place to keep something from harm.
Sandbox A closed-off space where a doubtful program can run without touching the rest of the computer.
Scan To check every file on a device for harmful programs.
Secure Made safe from attack, loss or prying eyes.
Security Keeping systems, data and people protected from harm.
Signature A digital mark that proves who sent a file and that nobody changed it on the way.
Wipe To erase everything on a device, for example after it is lost.

Passwords and Sign-Ins 24

Access The ability or the right to get into a system or a file.
Account Your own space on a site or an app, opened with a name and a secret word.
Approve To say yes to a request, such as a sign-in from a new phone.
Authenticate To prove, or to check, that a person or a device is who it claims to be.
Biometric Using a body feature, such as a fingerprint, a face or an iris, to prove who you are.
Captcha A quick test, such as picking out pictures, that tells people from programs. The name was coined in 2003.
Code A short string of numbers or letters sent to you to prove that it is really you.
Credential Proof that you have the right to enter, such as a name and secret word together.
Fingerprint The pattern of ridges on a fingertip, which can open a phone in place of a code.
Hint A clue that helps you remember a forgotten secret word.
Log out To close your account on a device so that the next person cannot use it.
Passphrase A secret made of several words in a row. It is usually longer than a single secret word.
Password A string of letters, numbers and symbols that proves an account is yours.
PIN A short secret number that opens a phone or works a bank card.
Random Chosen with no pattern, so that nobody can guess what comes next.
Recovery Getting back into an account, or getting files back, after something goes wrong.
Reset To clear a forgotten secret word and set a new one.
Sign in To enter your name and secret word to open an account.
Strong Hard to guess or to break, as a long secret phrase is.
Timeout An automatic sign-out after a device sits unused for a while.
Token An object or an app that proves who you are, such as a key fob that shows a fresh code.
Two-factor Needing a second proof, such as a code sent to a phone, on top of the secret word.
Unique One of a kind, not used anywhere else.
Vault A locked store. A digital one keeps many secret words behind a single master one.

Safe Online Habits 15

Awareness Knowing that a danger exists and what it looks like.
Double-check To look over something a second time to make sure.
Footprint The trail of posts, photos and searches a person leaves behind online.
Habit Something you do so often that you no longer have to think about it.
Hover To rest the pointer over a link without pressing, which shows where it leads.
Ignore To take no notice of a message and not answer it.
Pause To stop for a moment before you tap.
Permission A yes from the person in charge. Apps ask for it before using a camera or a location.
Private Meant for you, or a few chosen people, and nobody else.
Report To tell a trusted adult, a teacher or the site itself about something that seems wrong.
Settings The menu where you choose who can see your posts and what an app may use.
Skeptical Slow to believe a claim until there is proof.
Suspicious Seeming wrong or not to be trusted.
Trusted adult A grown-up you can turn to, such as a parent, a carer or a teacher.
Verify To check that something is true or real before you act on it.

Privacy and Data 17

Anonymous With no name attached, so nobody can tell who it was.
Confidential Meant to be kept between a few people and shared with nobody else.
Consent Agreement given freely by someone who understands what they are agreeing to.
Data Facts stored on a computer: names, numbers, photos, messages and more.
Erase To remove something so that it cannot be read again.
Identity Who a person is, and the details that prove it.
Leak Private facts that get out, by accident or on purpose.
Location Where a person or a device is at a given moment.
Permanent Lasting for good. A post can be copied and kept long after it is deleted.
Personal About you and nobody else, like a home address, a birthday or a phone number.
Policy The written rules on how a site collects and uses what it knows about you.
Privacy The right to decide who gets to know things about you.
Redact To black out the private parts of a document before passing it on.
Secret Something kept hidden from everyone except those who need to know.
Sensitive Needing extra care, because harm could follow if the wrong person saw it.
Shred To cut paper records into strips so that nobody can read them.
Tracking Following what a person does from site to site or from place to place.

People and Roles 14

Admin Short name for the person who runs a system and can change its rules.
Catfish A person who builds a fake profile online to fool others into a friendship.
Citizen A member of a community, online or off, with rights and duties.
Guardian An adult who is responsible for a child's care.
Hacker Someone who gets, or tries to get, into a computer system without permission.
Impostor A person who pretends to be somebody else in order to fool people.
Intruder Someone who has got into a place or a system where they are not allowed.
Moderator A person who watches over a forum or a game chat and removes what breaks the rules.
Responder A person whose job is to deal with an emergency or an attack.
Stranger A person you do not know in real life.
Target The person, account or system an attacker is aiming at.
Thief A person who steals.
Victim The person who is harmed by a crime or a trick.
White hat A friendly expert who is paid to look for weak spots so that they can be fixed.

When Things Go Wrong 14

Alert A message telling you that something needs attention now.
Compromise To weaken the safety of an account or a system so that it can no longer be trusted.
Contain To stop a problem from spreading any further.
Disconnect To break the link between a device and a network.
Evidence Facts or records that show what really happened.
Forensics The careful study of digital evidence after a break-in.
Help desk The team you call when a school or office computer goes wrong.
Incident An event that harms, or could harm, a system or the data in it.
Infected Carrying a harmful program.
Investigate To look closely at the facts to find out what happened.
Isolate To cut a device off from the network so that nothing spreads.
Notify To tell people officially that something has happened.
Response What a team does once it learns of an attack.
Restore To bring files back from a spare copy.

How this list was compiled: 138 cyber security words chosen and defined for this site: seven themed lists (online threats, digital defenses, passwords and sign-ins, safe online habits, privacy and data, people and roles, when things go wrong), a 27-word starter list, 12 short words and the 60 entries of 8 letters or more. This is a vocabulary list: the one-line meanings say what a word means, explain no attack and give no security advice. They are our own wording for readers of about 9 to 14, and no product or company is named. Technical terms were checked on 19 September 2026 against the NIST Computer Security Resource Center glossary, one page per term at https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/ followed by the term (phishing, malware, firewall, encryption and the rest). Also read that day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransomware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hat_(computer_security) and https://www.cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month and on 20 September 2026 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA Licence: own work

How it works

Every term in this cyber security word search has a one-line meaning, so the sheet doubles as a glossary. The starter list has 27, Phishing, Firewall and Two-factor among them, and seven themed lists follow.

Read the full guide

Seven themes for a digital citizenship unit

Online Threats holds 31 terms, from Scam and Spam to Ransomware and Deepfake. Passwords and Sign-Ins carries Passphrase, Two-factor and Biometric. Safe Online Habits has Verify, Report and Trusted adult, and Privacy and Data has Footprint, Consent and Redact. When Things Go Wrong covers Breach, Quarantine and Forensics for an older class.

Print the meanings as clues

Tick Show clues, not words and the sheet prints meanings in place of terms: electronic junk mail for Spam, a hidden, undocumented way into a computer system for Backdoor. The technical meanings were checked against the glossary of the NIST Computer Security Resource Center. No product or company is named, and no attack is explained.

Some clues carry a checked fact: Botnet joins robot and network, and Captcha was coined in 2003.

Questions and answers

Which list has Phishing and the other scam words?

Online Threats. Its clue for Phishing reads: a trick message that pretends to come from someone you trust, sent to get your private details. Spoofing, Impersonate, Lure and Hoax are in the same list, enough for a lesson on spotting scams.

Does it suit Cybersecurity Awareness Month?

Yes. The month is October, and in the United States the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, publishes resources for it. Press New puzzle between prints and each class or team gets a different grid.

Is it cyber security or cybersecurity?

Both are in use. The NIST glossary and CISA write cybersecurity as one word, and many people write two. The sheet is headed Cyber Security Word Search; to print it as one word, retype the title above the grid.

All 138 words

Online Threats 31

Online Threats, continued

Digital Defenses 23

Passwords and Sign-Ins 24

Safe Online Habits 15

Privacy and Data 17

People and Roles 14

When Things Go Wrong 14

How it works

Seven themes for a digital citizenship unit

Print the meanings as clues

Questions and answers

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