A-C
Adware
Programs that display advertisements, often retrieved off the
Internet. See
Freeware,
Open source, and
Shareware.
AES
(Advanced Encryption Standard) An encryption standard defined by
the United States government. See
DES.
Anonymous
remailer
A program or website that strips away an email address from a
message and then forwards it, allowing you to send email without revealing your
identity or location.
Antivirus
program
A program that detects and removes computer
viruses.
AOL
(America Online) The most popular (and hated) online service in
the world.
Assembly
language
A low-level machine programming language. Each specific family of
microprocessors (such as Intel or Motorola microprocessors) has its own
assembly language that allows maximum flexibility in controlling the computer.
Most viruses are written in assembly language, although a few are written in
BASIC, C, or Pascal.
Back
door
A hidden entry point into a computer or program. Hackers often
create back doors in a computer so they can return later and quickly bypass any
security or log-in procedures normally required.
Back
Orifice
One of the most popular remote access Trojan horse programs.
See
RAT and
Trojan horse.
Black hat
hacker
Term describing a hacker who uses his or her skills for malicious
purposes, such as deleting files and crashing computers.
See
White hat hacker.
Blowfish
Popular encryption algorithm freely available for anyone to
use.
Boot
sector
The part of the disk that identifies the disk type (floppy or
hard), the size of the file allocation table, the number of hidden files, and
the number of files in the root directory. Every disk has a boot sector, which
makes every disk vulnerable to boot viruses. See
Boot virus.
Boot
virus
A virus that infects the boot sector of a disk.
Brute-force attack
A method of discovering a password by exhaustively trying all
possible combinations of words and numbers until you find the right
one.
C/C++
Popular programming languages used to write most operating
systems and programs such as Linux, Windows, and Microsoft Word. C was the
original language used to develop Unix, while C++ is an object-oriented version
of C.
Censorware
Generic term for programs, such as parental control programs,
that block or limit access to certain websites and Usenet newsgroups.
See
Parental control software.
Checksum
The numeric result of some calculation (for example, a one-way
hash function) based on the physical contents of a file, that uniquely
identifies that particular file. If the file changes in any way, its checksum
also changes. Checksums are often stored in a separate file that may be
encrypted, hidden, or saved on a separate floppy disk. Antivirus and
anti–Trojan horse programs use checksums to identify when a file may have been
altered (and thus possibly infected). Similarly, computer forensics experts
often use checksums to verify that a file hasn't been changed since the
computer was first seized by the police.
Clusters
One or more sectors on a disk, containing all or part of a file.
See
Slack space.
CMOS
(complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) A battery-powered chip
that stores information about a computer's configuration. Many viruses target
this chip because it can keep your computer from working
properly.
Cold
boot
To turn a computer off and then back on again.
See
Warm boot.
Companion
virus
A now obsolete type of MS-DOS virus that stores itself as a
separate file, usually as a .com file. Companion viruses name themselves after
an infected program file, such as wp.exe, but with the .com file
extension.
Compiler
A program that converts source code into an executable program.
See
Decompiler.
Cracker
1. A malicious hacker. 2. A type of program that can defeat
encryption or copy protection.
Cracking
Defeating a program's copy-protection method or bypassing any
password or encryption scheme.
Credit card
generator
A program that creates credit card numbers using the same
mathematical formula used by the credit card companies.
Cross-platform
Capable of running on multiple operating
systems.
