A malicious program or code that attaches itself to another program file and can replicate itself and thereby infect other systems
Unsolicited email, also known as junk email
These are the bad guys.
A non-malicious surprise contained in a program or on a circuit board installed by the developer.
The catch-all term used when in fact it should be “cracker.”
A small packet of information from a visited webserver stored on your system by your computer’s browser
The program a black hat cracker uses to remotely transmit commands to infected zombie drones
To deceive someone for the purpose of acquiring sensitive and personal information, like credit card details or user names and passwords.
Ethical hackers. They use their knowledge and skill to thwart the black
A malicious program designed to execute at a predetermined time and/or date
The part of the malware program that actually executes its designed task.
A form of social engineering carried out by black hats in electronic form, usually by email, with the purpose of gathering sensitive information
A malicious program disguised to look like a valid program, making it difficult to distinguish from programs that are supposed to be there.
A white hat/black hat hybrid
A malware program that can be used by a black hat cracker to remotely take control of a system
Down
An attack designed to overwhelm a targeted website to the point of crashing it or making it inaccessible
Someone who breaks into a computer system or network without authorization and with the intention of doing damage
A non-destructive program that is designed to log every keystroke made on a computer.
The act of driving around in a vehicle with the purpose of finding an open, unsecured Wi-Fi wireless network.
A software “robot” that performs an extensive set of automated tasks on its own
Does not possess, or just doesn’t use, their own skills and know-how to hack or crack a computer system or network, but uses a pre-written program or piece of code, a script, to do the dirty work
Faking an IP address or masking/changing the sender information on an email so as to deceive the recipient as to its origin
Software designed to force pre-chosen ads to display on your system
Software designed to gather information about a user’s computer use without their knowledge
Rummaging through the trash of an individual or business to gather information that could be useful for a cyber criminal to gain access to a system
A security barrier designed to keep unwanted intruders “outside” a computer system or network
A malware program that is installed on a system through various means, including the same methods that allow viruses to be injected into a system
A network of zombie drones under the control of a black hat
Done with the help of zombie drones (also known as a botnet) under the control of black hats using a master program
Similar to a virus in that it is a destructive self-contained program that can replicate itself.
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Quick Answers:
Where is my puzzle?
All your puzzles are accessible from your 'My Puzzles' page, which you can access using the navigation bar at the top when you are logged in.
Be sure to log in using the same email address you used when you created your puzzle.
How do I print?
There is a 'Make Printable' button on the top left of your puzzle that will let you sign up for a plan or purchase a single puzzle.
Once paid, that button will turn into a 'Preview + Publish' button that will put your puzzle in a format that can be printed or solved online.
Once you publish your puzzle, you can click the print icon or use your browser’s print function.
It looks weird when printed.
First make sure you’ve published your puzzle. See the 'How do I print?' section above for more information.
99% of other printing issues have to do with printer settings. Instead of trying to fiddle with printer settings, which can be time-consuming and frustrating, there are a couple workarounds you can try.
You can try printing from a different browser, since different browsers have different default print settings. Alternately, you can try saving as a PDF (next to the print icon) and print that.
Why isn’t this free?
We invested in building a number of premium features that free sites are unable to offer: the ability to automatically or manually add words to your puzzle, save-as-you-go puzzle editing, the ability to access your puzzles from any computer, an uncluttered and ad-free interface, the ability for friends and colleagues to solve your puzzles online, and quick responsiveness to reported issues.
My Crossword Maker is the lowest-price service we've found that provides these features, and is designed for people who are not satisfied with what free sites are able to provide.
I thought this was free.
We’re sorry you thought My Crossword Maker was free, that must have been frustrating.
We’re constantly trying to provide a clear and straightforward user experience, and we’re not trying to hide the price: on the page where you make your puzzle, the price is listed in the overview in the top left (before you log in), below the 'Make Printable' button (after you log in), in the FAQ below the grid, and also in the tour.
Unfortunately, we have limited control over how we show up in Google and on other sites, so if they show My Crossword Maker when someone searches for a free site we can’t do anything about that.
It says there is no account with my email.
First check whether you used a different email address to create your account. Your login email is the email address where you received a welcome email from us.
Alternately, it’s possible there was a typo in your email when you created your account. If so, report an issue below and provide the name and last four digits on the card you used when you signed up. We’ll use this information to track down your account.
I am being asked to pay a second time.
If you are a member of My Crossword Maker and are still being asked for payment, then you may have inadvertently created a second account.
Your paid account will have the email address where you received an email confirming your subscription.
If you never received such an email, or are still unable to find your paid account, report an issue below and provide the name and last four digits on the card you used when you signed up. We’ll use this information to track down your account.
My password reset isn’t working.
For security a human can’t see or reset your password, so read the below information carefully.
If you haven’t gotten the password reset email, check your spam folder, be sure you’re checking the email account that the email was sent to, and be aware that some school email systems block emails from non-school email addresses.
If you have the password reset email but the password isn’t accepted, be sure you are using the most recent password reset email: sometimes people will hit the button twice, and only the second password will work.
Be sure if you copy-paste the password not to get a space on the outside, or if you're typing it keep in mind that it's case-sensitive and that a lower-case L can look like the number 1, etc.
How do I cancel?
You can cancel your subscription from your 'My Account' page, which you can access using the navigation bar at the top when you are logged in.
Support representatives cannot cancel a subscription on your behalf.
Not all my words are in my puzzle.
When you hit the 'Arrange' button, our algorithm will try to arrange all your words on the grid, and will move words around to try to fit the most words.
This will get all the words on the grid about 90% of the time, depending on the word list. For the other 10%, you will get an alert explaining that the words that did not fit were added to the scratchpad.
It prints on two pages.
Big puzzles won’t always print on one page — the clues and grid are the smallest we could make them while keeping them readable for everyone.
That said, different browsers print in slightly different ways, so you could try using 'print preview' using a different browser (or try the PDF button) to see if you like how that looks better.
I didn’t hear back from you.
We generally respond to all reported issues in about a day. If it’s been a few days and you haven’t heard back from us, it’s possible we sent an email that didn’t reach you.
Check your spam folder, and be aware that some school email systems block emails from non-school email addresses. Try providing a different email address if you think our emails to you are being blocked.
Answers take about a day. Try the Quick Answers above for a faster resolution.
Where is my puzzle?