Saturday, 15 February 2014

Glossary of common computer security terms (part :1)


Anti-virus (AV)
Computer software used to identify and remove computer viruses, as well as many other types of harmful computer
software.
Botnet/ Bot
A term for a collection of software robots, or bots, that run autonomously and automatically. The term is often associated with malicious software.
Bug
A programming error in a software program that can have unwanted side effects. Bugs can have a wide variety of effects, with varying levels of inconvenience to the user of the program. Bugs may only a minimal impact on the program’s functionality and so lie undetected for a long time. More serious bugs may cause the program to crash or freeze leading to a denial of service.
Cookies
Bits of information that web servers store on your computer for their later use. Web servers can use cookies to keep track of how many times you’ve visited and when, and what sort of information you’ve been surfing for on their site. They can even use cookies to pass that information on to other web servers, such as advertisement servers.
Cookies can be very useful; they can be used to store your own website configuration, remember items placed in your shopping cart at an online shopping site, or to store account and password information for subscription sites. You may not want to block all cookies, which is why browsers allow you to permit or block cookies on a per site basis.
Firewall
Security software that controls all network traffic by screening information entering and leaving a network to help ensure that no unauthorised access occurs.
Hacker
A person who breaks into computers and networks. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground.
Hoax
Usually an email that gets mailed in chain letter fashion describing some devastating, highly unlikely type of virus. A hoax is generally easy to spot because it does not include a file attachment or a reference to a third party who can validate the claim.
Identity theft
The use of someone else’s data to steal money or get other benefits in that person’s name. One of the major issues in computer security today.
Keystroke logging/keylogging
A method of capturing and recording user keystrokes, which is often used by criminals as a means to obtain passwords or encryption keys, thus bypassing other security measures.

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