Unit 8 · Workbook

8A. Hacked! — Workbook

Extra practice for home study · with answer keys

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Hands holding a smartphone showing a bank security alert, cup of tea on a wooden table

How to use this workbook

  • Try each exercise on paper first — don't peek!
  • Tap Show answer on a single item, or use the big button above to reveal everything.
  • Re-do anything you got wrong the next day.

1. Vocabulary — internet & cybersecurity

Choose the word or phrase that fits best.

  1. A second code required alongside your password is called ___.

  2. Fake messages designed to steal your login details are called ___.

  3. When a company loses customer data to attackers, this is called a ___.

  4. Malicious software that spies on or damages your device is called ___.

  5. Someone pretending to be you online is known as ___.

  6. A fix released to close a security hole is called ___.

2. Vocabulary — gap-fill

Complete each sentence with ONE word or phrase from the box (correct form).

Word bank — drag or tap, then tap a gap
  1. I got a message from what looked like Instagram — I clicked the link and I was  drop .
  2. My password had been changed and I was completely  drop  of my own account.
  3. The bank automatically  drop  my card as soon as it noticed the strange payment.
  4. About a million social-media accounts are  drop  every single day.
  5. You now have to upload a video selfie to  drop  your identity.
  6. The nine hundred pounds will be  drop  within five working days.

3. Grammar — active → passive

Rewrite each active sentence in the passive. Don't mention the doer unless it adds information.

  1. Hackers stole two million passwords last month.

  2. Somebody has changed the email on my account.

  3. A technician is scanning my laptop at the moment.

  4. The bank will refund the money within five days.

  5. You should update the software immediately.

  6. Somebody might have installed a virus on the machine.

  7. By midnight, they had blocked all the cards.

  8. The company is investigating the incident.

4. Grammar — HAVE / GET something DONE

Rewrite each situation using HAVE or GET + object + past participle.

  1. A technician scanned my laptop yesterday.

  2. A specialist recovered her Instagram account.

  3. I need someone to reset my password.

  4. The bank is sending me a new card at the moment.

  5. An expert will check the security tomorrow.

  6. Someone stole my identity — I didn't do anything wrong.

5. Grammar — IT IS SAID THAT… / …IS THOUGHT TO…

Choose the correct impersonal report structure.

  1. ___ that a million accounts are compromised every day.

  2. The attackers ___ to be based in Eastern Europe.

  3. He is believed ___ over ten million pounds last year.

  4. Two-factor authentication ___ to block 99% of automated attacks.

  5. It is reported ___ the breach affected 30,000 customers.

  6. The group ___ to have hacked several government sites last year.

6. Grammar — spot & fix the mistake

Each sentence has ONE mistake. Rewrite it correctly.

  1. My account was hack yesterday.

  2. My email has stolen.

  3. I did my laptop scan by a technician.

  4. Is said that the attackers are Russian.

  5. He is thought to be stolen the money.

  6. The software should updated immediately.

7. Reading — true / false / not given

Read the short text and mark each statement T, F or NG.

In 2013, the American retailer Target announced that the credit-card details of around 40 million customers had been stolen during the busy shopping period before Christmas. The breach was traced to an unlikely source: not Target's own systems, but a small company that maintained the shop's air-conditioning units. Login details belonging to that company had been phished, and once the attackers were inside the supplier's network, they were able to move sideways into Target's payment systems. The full clean-up is estimated to have cost Target more than 200 million dollars, and the head of the company was replaced within months. It is now widely accepted that a company is only as secure as its weakest supplier.

  1. About 40 million card details were stolen from Target.T  /  F  /  NG
  2. The attackers broke into Target's own systems directly.T  /  F  /  NG
  3. The initial victim was an air-conditioning maintenance supplier.T  /  F  /  NG
  4. The clean-up cost Target more than a billion dollars.T  /  F  /  NG
  5. The head of Target was arrested.T  /  F  /  NG
  6. The article's main lesson is that supplier security matters.T  /  F  /  NG

8. Writing — a short incident report

Write 100–120 words as an internal incident report about a real or imagined hack. Use at least 3 passive tenses, 1 HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE, and 1 IT IS SAID/THOUGHT THAT.

Check your writing

  • 100–120 words
  • 3+ passive tenses (present / past / perfect / modal)
  • 1+ HAVE/GET something DONE
  • 1+ IT IS SAID/THOUGHT THAT / …IS THOUGHT TO
  • 3+ cybersecurity vocab words

9. Listening — call to the bank fraud line

Listen to the phone call (a worried customer + a bank fraud officer — clearly different voices). Answer the questions. Play twice if you need.

🎧 Bank fraud-line call · ≈ 1:30
  1. How much money has been taken from David's card?
  2. What is the merchant name on the alert?
  3. What did David do the day before that caused the problem?
  4. What has already happened to the card?
  5. How long will the refund take?
  6. What else does the agent recommend?
  7. What does the agent warn about the coming weeks?

10. Dictation — key sentences

Listen again and complete each line with the missing words.

🎧 Bank fraud-line call — key sentences
  1. A payment of nine hundred pounds from my card.
  2. The card automatically.
  3. That page was set up your card details.
  4. The payment within five working days.
  5. It that these scam texts will continue for weeks.

11. 🔥 Challenge — sentence transformation

Rewrite the second sentence using 2–5 words including the KEYWORD.

  1. 1. Hackers have stolen my email address. → My email address ___. (KEYWORD: BEEN)

  2. 2. A technician scanned my laptop. → I ___ scanned. (KEYWORD: HAD)

  3. 3. People say the group operates from Russia. → The group ___ from Russia. (KEYWORD: SAID)

  4. 4. Somebody might have installed a virus. → A virus ___ installed. (KEYWORD: BEEN)

  5. 5. Experts believe he stole millions last year. → He ___ millions last year. (KEYWORD: THOUGHT)

  6. 6. We need someone to reset the password. → We need to ___ reset. (KEYWORD: GET)

12. 🔥 Challenge — the letter U

Group the words by their U-sound. Choose the correct sound.

  1. 'user'

  2. 'rule'

  3. 'update'

  4. 'menu'

  5. 'truth'

  6. 'trust'

13. Self-check

Tick what you can now do confidently.

  • I form the passive across all main tenses (present, past, perfect, future, modal).
  • I use HAVE / GET SOMETHING DONE for services performed by others.
  • I use IT IS SAID THAT… and SUBJECT + IS THOUGHT TO… to report impersonally.
  • I know the past reference: IS BELIEVED TO HAVE + past participle.
  • I use B2 cybersecurity vocabulary: phished, compromised, breach, 2FA, malware.
  • I distinguish the three main U-sounds: /ʌ/, /juː/, /uː/.