Technology Glossary
| Definitions from Webopedia.com, ComputerUser.com and TechDictonary.com | |
| Term |
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| A | |
| Access | A privilege to use computer information in some manner. For example, a user might be granted read access to a file, meaning that the user can read the file but cannot modify or delete it. Most operating systems have several different types of access privileges that can be granted or denied to specific users or groups of users. |
| Architecture | A design. The term architecture can refer to either hardware or software, or to a combination of hardware and software. The architecture of a system always defines its broad outlines, and may define precise mechanisms as well. An open architecture allows the system to be connected easily to devices and programs made by other manufacturers. Open architectures use off-the-shelf components and conform to approved standards. A system with a closed architecture, on the other hand, is one whose design is proprietary, making it difficult to connect the system to other systems. |
| ASP | Application Service Provider – a third-party entity that manages and distributes software-based services and solutions to customers across a wide area network from a central data center |
| ASP | Active Server Page – a specification for a dynamically created Web page with a .asp extension that utilizes ActiveX scripting. |
| B | |
| Bit | Short for binary digit, the smallest unit of information on a machine. The term was first used in 1946 by John Tukey, a leading statistician and adviser to five presidents. A single bit can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1. More meaningful information is obtained by combining consecutive bits into larger units. For example, a byte is composed of 8 consecutive bits. |
| C | |
| CIPA | Short for the Children's Internet Protection Act, signed into law in December 2000. CIPA is designed to safeguard children against objectionable or harmful material on the Internet. CIPA amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Communications Act of 1934. The amendments direct schools and libraries to have in place a policy of Internet safety and a technology-based method of blocking access to visual depictions on the Internet that are obscene, child pornography or harmful to minors |
| Code | Written computer instructions. The term code is somewhat colloquial. For example, a programmer might say: "I wrote a lot of code this morning" or "There's one piece of code that doesn't work." Code can appear in a variety of forms. The code that a programmer writes is called source code. After it has been compiled, it is called object code. Code that is ready to run is called executable code or machine code. (v) Colloquial for to program (that is, to write source code). |
| Cookies | message given to a Web browser by a Web server. The browser stores the message in a text file. The message is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. See Session Cookie & Persistent Cookie |
| Copyright | The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work. Abbreviated as (c) or ©. |
| Cyberlibel | Cyberlibel is a term used to describe defamation that takes place in cyberspace, meaning through the Internet. This includes false and damaging statements made about another person through e-mail, message boards, blogs, chat rooms, on Web sites, or any other Internet-based communication medium. |
| Cybersquatting | Cybersquatting is the act of registering a popular Internet address--usually a company name--with the intent of selling it to its rightful owner. Comparing cybersquatting to online extortion, Senator Spencer Abraham, a Michigan Republican, has introduced to Congress the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. This bill, if enacted, would make cybersquatting illegal. Violators would be charged a fine of up to $300,000. |
| D | |
| Daemon | Pronounced DEE-mun or DAY-mun. A process that runs in the background and performs a specified operation at predefined times or in response to certain events. The term daemon is a UNIX term, though many other operating systems provide support for daemons, though they're sometimes called other names. Windows, for example, refers to daemons as System Agents and services |
| Deep Link | n.) A hyperlink either on a Web page or in the results of a search engine query to a page on a Web site other than the site’s home page. Typically, a Web site’s home page is the top page in the site’s hierarchy, and any page other than that is considered “deep.” For example, if a Web site linked to the Webopedia page http://www.webopedia.com/Term/D/deep_link.html, this would be considered a deep link because the site linked to one of Webopedia’s pages other than its home page, http://www.webopedia.com. Some in the industry have opposed the proliferation of deep links as they drive users away from a site’s home page where there are advertisers paying for space based on page views. |
| Defacement | Also referred to as Web defacement or Web site defacement, a form of malicious hacking in which a Web site is “vandalized.” Often the malicious hacker will replace the site’s normal content with a specific political or social message or will erase the content from the site entirely, relying on known security vulnerabilities for access to the site’s content. |
| Derivative Work Right | The right to alter content, take extracts from it, combine it with another work, translate it into another language, or otherwise create a new work from an existing piece of content. |
| Dictionary Attack | A method used to break security systems, specifically password-based security systems, in which the attacker systematically tests all possible passwords beginning with words that have a higher possibility of being used, such as names and places. The word “dictionary” refers to the attacker exhausting all of the words in a dictionary in an attempt to discover the password. Dictionary attacks are typically done with software instead of an individual manually trying each password. |
| Digital Signature | A digital code that can be attached to an electronically transmitted message that uniquely identifies the sender. Like a written signature, the purpose of a digital signature is to guarantee that the individual sending the message really is who he or she claims to be. Digital signatures are especially important for electronic commerce and are a key component of most authentication schemes. To be effective, digital signatures must be unforgeable. There are a number of different encryption techniques to guarantee this level of security. |
| DMCA | Short for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, an act of Congress that was signed into law on October 28th, 1998, by President Clinton. DMCA's purpose is to update U.S. copyright laws for the digital age. Briefly, the DMCA stipulates the following conditions: It is a crime to circumvent anti-piracy measures that are built into commercial software. It is a crime to manufacture, sell or distribute code-cracking devices that illegally copy software. However, it is not a crime to crack copyright protection devices in order to conduct encryption research, assess product interoperability or test the security of computer systems. Under certain circumstances, nonprofit libraries, archives and education institutions are exempt from the anti-circumvention provisions. The copyright infringement liability of ISPs that simply transmit information over the Internet is limited. However, ISPs must remove material from users' Web sites that appears to constitute copyright infringement. The liability for copyright infringement by faculty members and graduate students of nonprofit institutions of higher education is limited when the institutions serve as ISPs and under certain circumstances. Webcasters must pay licensing fees to record companies. The Register of Copyrights must submit to Congress recommendations regarding how to promote distance education through digital technologies while "maintaining an appropriate balance between the rights of copyright owners and the needs of users." |
| DoS Attack | Short for denial-of-service attack, a type of attack on a network that is designed to bring the network to its knees by flooding it with useless traffic. Many DoS attacks, such as the Ping of Death and Teardrop attacks, exploit limitations in the TCP/IP protocols. For all known DoS attacks, there are software fixes that system administrators can install to limit the damage caused by the attacks. But, like viruses, new DoS attacks are constantly being dreamed up by hackers. |
| DRM | Short for digital rights management, a system for protecting the copyrights of data circulated via the Internet or other digital media by enabling secure distribution and/or disabling illegal distribution of the data. Typically, a DRM system protects intellectual property by either encrypting the data so that it can only be accessed by authorized users or marking the content with a digital watermark or similar method so that the content can not be freely distributed. |
| E | |
| Short for electronic mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks. The messages can be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk | |
| E-Mail Spoofing | Forging an e-mail header to make it appear as if it came from somewhere or someone other than the actual source. The main protocol that is used when sending e-mail -- SMTP -- does not include a way to authenticate. There is an SMTP service extension (RFC 2554) that allows an SMTP client to negotiate a security level with a mail server. But if this precaution is not taken anyone with the know-how can connect to the server and use it to send spoofed messages by altering the header information. |
| Encryption | The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it. Unencrypted data is called plain text ; encrypted data is referred to as cipher text. |
| ESA | Short for the Electronic Signatures Act, a U.S. legal document that designates that digital signatures carry the legal force of handwritten signatures (i.e., they are legally binding for contracts and transactions). The act defines an electronic signature as any electronic symbol, sound or process that is attached to or logically associated with a contract or record, and that is adopted by a person with the intent to effectuate a signature with the contract or record. The full name of the act is the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, which was signed into effect by President Clinton on October 1, 2000. |
| EULA | Short for End-User License Agreement, the type of license used for most software. An EULA is a legal contract between the manufacturer and/or the author and the end user of an application. The EULA details how the software can and cannot be used and any restrictions that the manufacturer imposes (e.g., most EULA’s of proprietary software prohibit the user from sharing the software with anyone else). Not every EULA is the same. Some contracts stipulate acceptance of the agreement simply by opening the shrink-wrapped package; some require the user to mail back to the manufacturer a signed agreement or acceptance card; some require the user to accept the agreement after the application is installed by clicking on an acceptance form that appears on the user’s monitor. This last method is typical of applications that can be downloaded from the Internet. In all instances, the user has the option of not accepting the EULA, subsequently surrendering the rights and ability to use the software. As in typical legal contracts, the EULA protects both parties from liability if the software is used in a way not intended by the manufacturer or author. The EULA also is often referred to as the software license or user license. |
| Evil Twin | Evil twin is a type of Wi-Fi attack, similar in nature to Web site spoofing and e-mail phishing attacks. Here's how an evil twin attack works: A hacker sets its service identifier (SSID) to be the same as an access point at the local hotspot or corporate wireless network. The hacker disrupts or disables the legitimate AP by disconnecting it, directing a denial of service against it, or creating RF interference around it. Users lose their connections to the legitimate AP and re-connect to the "evil twin," allowing the hacker to intercept all the traffic to that device. [Source: Wi-Fi Planet] |
| F | |
| Fair Use | A U.S. legal term for uses of content that are considered valid defenses to copyright infringement, such as for criticism or educational purposes. Fair use is based on case-law precedents derived from general principles. The term is often misapplied to refer to the reasonable expectations of consumers to be able to use purchased content on all owned devices. |
| Firewall | A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets. All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria. |
| First Sale Doctrine | A legal principle that limits a rightsholder’s rights to control content after it has been sold for the first time. According to first sale doctrine, lawful ownership of an item, such as a music CD or a book, is not the same as owning the copyright of the item. The owner of the item may lend, resell, give away and or/destroy the copyrighted item but is not granted the right to copy the item in its entirety. The transfer of the copy does not include the transfer of the content’s copyright. The legal principle applies to physical items as well as digital content that is downloaded over the Internet. |
| Frame | A feature supported by most modern Web browsers than enables the Web author to divide the browser display area into two or more sections (frames). The contents of each frame are taken from a different Web page. Frames provide great flexibility in designing Web pages, but many designers avoid them because they are supported unevenly by current browsers. |
| G | |
| H | |
| Hacker | A slang term for a computer enthusiast, i.e., a person who enjoys learning programming languages and computer systems and can often be considered an expert on the subject(s). Among professional programmers, depending on how it used, the term can be either complimentary or derogatory, although it is developing an increasingly derogatory connotation. The pejorative sense of hacker is becoming more prominent largely because the popular press has coopted the term to refer to individuals who gain unauthorized access to computer systems for the purpose of stealing and corrupting data. Hackers, themselves, maintain that the proper term for such individuals is cracker. |
| HoneyMonkey | A honeymonkey is a computer or a virtual PC that actively mimics the actions of a user surfing the Web. A series of "monkey programs," which drive a browser in a manner similar to that of a human user, run on virtual machines in order to detect exploit sites. The browsers can be configured to run with fully updated software, or without specific updates in order to look for exploit sites that target specific vulnerabilities. In this manner, the attacks more likely to impact customers can be analyzed and detected. |
| HTML | Short for HyperText Markup Language, the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web. |
| Hyperlink | An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link. Hyperlinks are the most essential ingredient of all hypertext systems, including the World Wide Web. |
| I | |
| Internet | A global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions. |
| Intranet | A network based on TCP/IP protocols (an internet) belonging to an organization, usually a corporation, accessible only by the organization's members, employees, or others with authorization. An intranet's Web sites look and act just like any other Web sites, but the firewall surrounding an intranet fends off unauthorized access. |
| IP Address | An identifier for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the destination. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address. Within an isolated network, you can assign IP addresses at random as long as each one is unique. However, connecting a private network to the Internet requires using registered IP addresses (called Internet addresses) to avoid duplicates. |
| ISP | Short for Internet Service Provider, a company that provides access to the Internet. For a monthly fee, the service provider gives you a software package, username, password and access phone number. Equipped with a modem, you can then log on to the Internet and browse the World Wide Web and USENET, and send and receive e-mail |
| J K L | |
| License | (n.) (1) A contract that grants a party explicit rights to use intellectual property. (2) A digital permit containing descriptions of rights that can be applied to one or more pieces of content. v.) To grant the right to use intellectual property |
| Logic Bomb | Also called slag code, programming code added to the software of an application or operating system that lies dormant until a predetermined period of time (i.e., a period of latency) or event occurs, triggering the code into action. Logic bombs typically are malicious in intent, acting in the same ways as a virus or Trojan horse once activated. In fact, viruses that are set to be released at a certain time are considered logic bombs. They can perform such actions as reformatting a hard drive and/or deleting, altering or corrupting data. |
| M | |
| Malicious Code | any code added, changed, or removed from a software system in order to intentionally cause harm or subvert the intended function of the system. Traditional examples of malicious code include viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, and attack scripts, while more modern examples include Java attack applets and dangerous ActiveX controls. |
| Meta Tag | A special HTML tag that provides information about a Web page. Unlike normal HTML tags, meta tags do not affect how the page is displayed. Instead, they provide information such as who created the page, how often it is updated, what the page is about, and which keywords represent the page's content. Many search engines use this information when building their indices. |
| N | |
| Nonrepudiation | In reference to digital security, nonrepudiation means to ensure that a transferred message has been sent and received by the parties claiming to have sent and received the message. Nonrepudiation is a way to guarantee that the sender of a message cannot later deny having sent the message and that the recipient cannot deny having received the message. |
| O | |
| OEM | for original equipment manufacturer, which is a misleading term for a company that has a special relationship with computer producers. OEMs buy computers in bulk and customize them for a particular application. They then sell the customized computer under their own name. The term is really a misnomer because OEMs are not the original manufacturers -- they are the customizers. |
| P | |
| Password | A secret series of characters that enables a user to access a file, computer, or program. On multi-user systems, each user must enter his or her password before the computer will respond to commands. The password helps ensure that unauthorized users do not access the computer. In addition, data files and programs may require a password. Ideally, the password should be something that nobody could guess. In practice, most people choose a password that is easy to remember, such as their name or their initials. This is one reason it is relatively easy to break into most computer systems. |
| Persistent Cookie | also called a permanent cookie, or a stored cookie, a cookie that is stored on a user’s hard drive until it expires or until the user deletes the cookie. Persistent cookies are used to collect identifying information about the user, such as Web surfing behavior or user preferences for a specific Web site. |
| Personally Identifiable Information | any piece of information which can potentially be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person |
| Pharming | Similar in nature to e-mail phishing, pharming seeks to obtain personal or private (usually financial related) information through domain spoofing. Rather than being spammed with malicious and mischievous e-mail requests for you to visit spoof Web sites which appear legitimate, pharming 'poisons' a DNS server by infusing false information into the DNS server, resulting in a user's request being redirected elsewhere. Your browser, however will show you are at the correct Web site, which makes pharming a bit more serious and more difficult to detect. Phishing attempts to scam people one at a time with an e-mail while pharming allows the scammers to target large groups of people at one time through domain spoofing. |
| Phishing | The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user’s information. For example, 2003 saw the proliferation of a phishing scam in which users received e-mails supposedly from eBay claiming that the user’s account was about to be suspended unless he clicked on the provided link and updated the credit card information that the genuine eBay already had. Because it is relatively simple to make a Web site look like a legitimate organizations site by mimicking the HTML code, the scam counted on people being tricked into thinking they were actually being contacted by eBay and were subsequently going to eBay’s site to update their account information. By spamming large groups of people, the “phisher” counted on the e-mail being read by a percentage of people who actually had listed credit card numbers with eBay legitimately. Phishing, also referred to as brand spoofing or carding, is a variation on “fishing,” the idea being that bait is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tempted into biting. |
| POP | Short for Post Office Protocol, a protocol used to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. Most e-mail applications (sometimes called an e-mail client) use the POP protocol, although some can use the newer IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). |
| Pulsing Zombie | A form of DoS attack known as a degradation-of-service attack, as opposed to a denial-of-service attack. Unlike a regular zombie that paralyzes a system by inundating it with a steady stream of attack traffic, the pulsing zombie attacks with irregular small bursts of attack traffic from multiple sources on a single target over an extended period of time. Pulsing zombie attacks are more difficult to detect and trace because since they are slow and gradual they do not immediately appear as malicious. |
| Q R | |
| RAT | Short for Remote Access Trojan, a Trojan horse that provides the intruder, or hacker, with a backdoor into the infected system. This backdoor allows the hacker to snoop your system, use your infected system to launch a zombie (attacks on other systems), or even run malicious code. |
| Reciprocal Link | A reciprocal link is an agreement between two webmasters to provide a hyperlink within their own website to each other's web site. Generally this is done to provide readers with quick access to related sites, or to show a partnership between two sites. Reciprocal links can also help to increase traffic to your web site in two ways. First you will probably have some viewers visit your site from clicking the reciprocal link directly. Secondly, most Internet search engines also take into account the number of web sites which contain links to your web site; the more hyperlinks to your site found, the higher up in the search engine rankings (depending on the search term) you'll find your site. |
| Rightsholder | The person or entity that owns a set of rights (often the copyright) on a given content item. |
| S | |
| Scripting Language | A high-level programming language that is interpreted by another program at runtime rather than compiled by the computer’s processor as other programming languages (such as C and C++) are. Scripting languages, which can be embedded within HTML, commonly are used to add functionality to a Web page, such as different menu styles or graphic displays or to serve dynamic advertisements. These types of languages are client-side scripting languages, affecting the data that the end user sees in a browser window. Other scripting languages are server-side scripting languages that manipulate the data, usually in a database, on the server. |
| Search Engine | A program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. Although search engine is really a general class of programs, the term is often used to specifically describe systems like Alta Vista and Excite that enable users to search for documents on the World Wide Web and USENET newsgroups. |
| Security | In the computer industry, refers to techniques for ensuring that data stored in a computer cannot be read or compromised by any individuals without authorization. Most security measures involve data encryption and passwords. Data encryption is the translation of data into a form that is unintelligible without a deciphering mechanism. A password is a secret word or phrase that gives a user access to a particular program or system. |
| Session Cookie | also called a transient cookie, a cookie that is erased when the user closes the Web browser. The session cookie is stored in temporary memory and is not retained after the browser is closed. Session cookies do not collect information from the user’s computer. They typically will store information in the form of a session identification that does not personally identify the user. |
| SMTP | (pronounced as separate letters) Short for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, a protocol for sending e-mail messages between servers. Most e-mail systems that send mail over the Internet use SMTP to send messages from one server to another; the messages can then be retrieved with an e-mail client using either POP or IMAP. In addition, SMTP is generally used to send messages from a mail client to a mail server. This is why you need to specify both the POP or IMAP server and the SMTP server when you configure your e-mail application. |
| Software License | Allowing an individual or group to use a piece of software. Nearly all applications are licensed rather than sold. There are a variety of different types of software licenses. Some are based on the number machines on which the licensed program can run whereas others are based on the number of users that can use the program. Most personal computer software licenses allow you to run the program on only one machine and to make copies of the software only for backup purposes. Some licenses also allow you to run the program on different computers as long as you don't use the copies simultaneously. |
| Software Piracy | The unauthorized copying of software. Most retail programs are licensed for use at just one computer site or for use by only one user at any time. By buying the software, you become a licensed user rather than an owner (see EULA). You are allowed to make copies of the program for backup purposes, but it is against the law to give copies to friends and colleagues. |
| Spyware | (n.) Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers. Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse in that users unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that are available today. Aside from the questions of ethics and privacy, spyware steals from the user by using the computer's memory resources and also by eating bandwidth as it sends information back to the spyware's home base via the user's Internet connection. Because spyware is using memory and system resources, the applications running in the background can lead to system crashes or general system instability. Because spyware exists as independent executable programs, they have the ability to monitor keystrokes, scan files on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat programs or word processors, install other spyware programs, read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser, consistently relaying this information back to the spyware author who will either use it for advertising/marketing purposes or sell the information to another party. Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested software, but the licensing agreements may not always be read completely because the notice of a spyware installation is often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal disclaimers. |
| SSL | Short for Secure Sockets Layer, a protocol developed by Netscape for transmitting private documents via the Internet. SSL uses a cryptographic system that uses two keys to encrypt data − a public key known to everyone and a private or secret key known only to the recipient of the message. Both Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer support SSL, and many Web sites use the protocol to obtain confidential user information, such as credit card numbers.By convention, URLs that require an SSL connection start with https: instead of http: |
| Stealth Virus | A computer virus that actively hides itself from antivirus software by either masking the size of the file that it hides in or temporarily removing itself from the infected file and placing a copy of itself in another location on the drive, replacing the infected file with an uninfected one that it has stored on the hard drive. |
| T | |
| Tag | A command inserted in a document that specifies how the document, or a portion of the document should be formatted. |
| TCP/IP | Abbreviation of Transmission Control Protocol, and pronounced as separate letters. TCP is one of the main protocols in TCP/IP networks. Whereas the IP protocol deals only with packets, TCP enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and also guarantees that packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent |
| Terms of Use | rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service/use are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. |
| Trojan Horse | A destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. One of the most insidious types of Trojan horse is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer. |
| Typosquatting | (tī´pō-skwot´´ting) slang. Purchasing a domain name that is a variation on a popular domain name with the expectation that the site will get traffic off of the original sight because of a user's misspelling of the name. For example, registering the domain names webapedia.com or yahooo.com in the hopes that someone making a typo will get to that site unexpectedly. |
| U | |
| UDRP | Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy defines how disputes over domain name registrations are resolved in the global top-level domains (.biz, .com, .info, .name, .net, and .org as well as .aero, .coop, and .museum). The UDRP includes a mandatory, non-binding, low-cost administrative procedure to resolve a certain set of claims . namely, claims of abusive, bad faith registration. This means a bad faith violation of someone else's trademark. In situations other than these, the UDRP provides that disputes must be resolved by traditional means such as voluntary negotiation and lawsuits. The UDRP is part of the Registration Agreement that Internet users sign to register domain names in the global top-level domains (TLD). The UDRP was adopted by ICANN on 26 August 1999. Implementation began when the final policy documents were approved on 24 October 1999. [Adapted from InterNIC FAQs] |
| Unauthorized Access | gaining access into any computer, network, storage medium, system, program, file, user area, or other private repository, without the express permission of the owner. |
| URL | the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web |
| Usenet | A worldwide bulletin board system that can be accessed through the Internet or through many online services. The USENET contains more than 14,000 forums, called newsgroups, that cover every imaginable interest group. It is used daily by millions of people around the world. |
| User | An individual who uses a computer. This includes expert programmers as well as novices. An end user is any individual who runs an application program. |
| V | |
| Virus | A program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Viruses can also replicate themselves. All computer viruses are manmade. A simple virus that can make a copy of itself over and over again is relatively easy to produce. Even such a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the system to a halt. An even more dangerous type of virus is one capable of transmitting itself across networks and bypassing security systems. Some people distinguish between general viruses and worms. A worm is a special type of virus that can replicate itself and use memory, but cannot attach itself to other programs. |
| Virus Signature | A unique string of bits, or the binary pattern, of a virus. The virus signature is like a fingerprint in that it can be used to detect and identify specific viruses. Anti-virus software uses the virus signature to scan for the presence of malicious code |
| W | |
| Web Browser | a software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats. |
| Web Content | Web content types can include text, graphics and photos, video or audio, and application code that renders other content or interacts with the visitor. WCM may also catalog or index content, select or assemble content at runtime, or deliver content to specific visitors in a personalized way or in different languages. [Source: Gartner] |
| Web Hosting | A service providing server space and web service to companies and individuals who which to present a web or e-commerce presence but do not wish to maintain their own servers. |
| Web Server | A computer that delivers (serves up) Web pages. Every Web server has an IP address and possibly a domain name. For example, if you enter the URL http://www.pcwebopedia.com/index.html in your browser, this sends a request to the server whose domain name is pcwebopedia.com. The server then fetches the page named index.html and sends it to your browser. Any computer can be turned into a Web server by installing server software and connecting the machine to the Internet. |
| Whitelist | In Internet terminology, a generic name for a list of e-mail addresses or IP addresses that are considered to be spam free. Whitelists are used frequently with e-mail applications to allow users to compile lists of senders they wish to receive e-mail from. This list overrides any blacklists and spam filters, and allows the e-mails to be delivered to the users inbox instead of filtered out as spam. |
| WIPO Treaties | International treaties, signed in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1996, designed to bring uniformity to international copyright law. The purpose of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation among states and, where appropriate, in collaboration with any other international organization, and to ensure administrative cooperation among the unions. |
| Worm | A program or algorithm that replicates itself over a computer network and usually performs malicious actions, such as using up the computer's resources and possibly shutting the system down. |
| X Y Z | |
| Zombie | A computer that has been implanted with a daemon that puts it under the control of a malicious hacker without the knowledge of the computer owner. Zombies are used by malicious hackers to launch DoS attacks. |
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