N-P
Napster
Program designed for "sharing" MP3-compressed audio
files over the Internet. See
Gnutella and
MP3.
Newbie
Slang term to describe a novice or beginner.
Nuker
A malicious program designed to crash another
computer.
Online harassment program
A program designed to harass users on specific online service,
such as America Online, or in chat rooms. Such programs are often used to trick
people into giving up their credit card numbers or passwords.
Open
source
A type of program where the source code can be studied and
modified with no or few restrictions. Any changes made to an open source
program are meant to be shared with others. Linux is an example of an open
source program. See
Adware,
Freeware, and
Shareware.
Overwriting
infector
A type of file-infecting virus that erases part of a file while
infecting it.
Packet
sniffer
A program that surreptitiously captures information flowing
through the Internet. Often used to intercept credit card numbers and
passwords.
Parasitic
infector
A type of file-infecting virus that attaches itself to the
beginning or end of a file.
Parental
control software
Programs that block access to certain Internet resources (such as
websites or FTP sites) that may contain adult-oriented material. Can also
filter email or chat rooms, and control access to certain programs stored on
the computer. See
Censorware.
Partition
table
The part of a hard disk's boot sector that defines the size and
partition of the hard disk, the operating system each partition uses, and the
partition the computer uses to boot from.
Patch
A program designed to correct a flaw or bug in a program.
See
Service pack.
PGP
(Pretty Good Privacy) One of the most popular and effective
encryption programs used on the Internet. See
Encryption.
Phishing
To trick or fool chat room attendees into revealing their
passwords, credit card numbers, or other valuable information. Often a special
feature provided in an online harassment program. See
Online harassment program.
Phone call
flooding
Dialing a single phone number over and over again. Often used to
harass a specific company or individual, such as a company or individual that
sent unwanted email. See
Fax bombing.
Phreaking
Manipulating the phone system.
Pirated
software
Illegally copied software. Check any computer in any
organization, and you'll probably find at least one pirated program
somewhere.
Polymorphic
virus
A virus that modifies itself each time it spreads in order to
avoid detection by antivirus scanners. See
Mutation engine.
Ponzi
scheme
A con game where early investors receive their money when others
invest money into the scheme. Similar to Social Security.
See
Pyramid scheme.
Pop-up/under ads
Advertisements that appear on your screen when you're browsing
the Internet. Pop-up ads cover the web page that you're viewing while pop-under
ads hide and only appear when you close your browser window.
Port
An "opening" in your computer used to send and
receive data. When a computer connects to the Internet, it opens several ports,
where each port performs a specific function, such as sending and receiving web
pages or email. See
Scanner.
Private-key
encryption
Method of encrypting and decrypting data that uses a single key.
See
Public-key encryption.
Program
infector
A virus that infects program files, such as word processors or
spreadsheets.
Public-key
encryption
Method of encrypting and decrypting data that uses two separate
keys: a private key (known only to one person) and a public key that anyone can
use. Data encrypted with one key can only be decrypted using the other.
See
Private-key encryption.
Pyramid
scheme
A con game where one person receives money from two or more other
people in exchange for the promise that they can make money if they recruit
others to give them money too.