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Glossary
Expand your word-knowledge with our online glossary.
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- A -
- Adware
- Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used.
- B -
- Blog
- A blog, or weblog, is a web site (or section of a site) where users can post a chronological, up-to-date journal entry of their thoughts. Each post usually contains a web link. Basically, it is an open forum communication tool that, depending on the web site, is either very individualistic or performs a crucial function for an organization or company.
- C -
- CPU
- A central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer that interprets computer program instructions and processes data. CPUs provide the fundamental digital computer trait of programmability, and are one of the necessary components found in computers of any era, along with primary storage and input/output facilities.
- D -
- DVI
- The Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video interface standard designed to maximize the visual quality of digital display devices such as flat panel LCD computer displays and digital projectors. It was developed by an industry consortium, the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). It is designed primarily for carrying uncompressed digital video data to a display. It is partially compatible with the HDMI standard in digital mode (DVI-D).
- F -
- Firewall
A firewall is an information technology (IT) security device which is configured to permit, deny or proxy data connections set and configured by the organization's security policy. Firewalls can either be hardware and/or software based.
A firewall's basic task is to control traffic between computer networks with different zones of trust. Typical examples are the Internet which is a zone with no trust and an internal network which is (and should be) a zone with high trust. The ultimate goal is to provide controlled interfaces between zones of differing trust levels through the enforcement of a security policy and connectivity model based on the least privilege principle and separation of duties.
- FireWire
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FireWire is Apple Inc.'s version of USB used on Apple computers. It is a personal computer (and digital audio/digital video) serial bus interface standard, offering high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data services.
FireWire is Apple Inc.'s proprietary name for the IEEE 1394 interface. It is also known as i.Link (Sony’s name) or IEEE 1394. IEEE 1394 has been adopted as the High Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) standard connection interface for A/V component communication and control. FireWire is also available in wireless, fiber optic and coaxial versions using the isochronous protocols.
- G -
- GUI
- Graphical User Interface is an interface for issuing commands to a computer utilizing a pointing device, such as a mouse, that manipulates and activates graphical images on a monitor. If you use Windows, you use a GUI when you use nearly every program.
- H -
- Hacker
- A person who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer, network or file.
- Hard Disk Drive
- A hard disk (commonly known as a HDD (hard disk drive) or hard drive (HD) and formerly known as a fixed disk) is a non-volatile storage device which stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, "drive" refers to a device that drives (removable) media, such as a tape drive or (floppy) disk drive, while a hard disk contains fixed (non-removable) media.
- HDMI
- The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is an all-digital audio/video interface capable of transmitting uncompressed streams. HDMI provides an interface between any compatible digital audio/video source, such as a set-top box, a DVD player, a PC, a video game system, or an AV receiver and a compatible digital audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV). In 2006, HDMI began to appear as a feature on prosumer, HDTV camcorders and even high-end digital still cameras.
- L -
- LCD
- LCD, or Liquid Crystal Display, is the screen used on flat panel monitors, digital watches, PDAs, pagers, cell phones, and so on. It makes use of liquid crystals to display information.
- Link
- A hyperlink (often referred to as simply a link), is a reference or navigation element in a document to another section of the same document, another document, or a specified section of another document, that automatically brings the referred information to the user when the navigation element is selected by the user.
- M -
- Malware
- Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a portmanteau of the words "malicious" and "software". The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.
- P -
- PC
-
PC is an acronym for Personal Computer.
A computer designed for use by one person at a time. The term "PC" commonly describes what used to be known as an IBM-PC, as opposed to an Apple Macintosh, but both are personal computers.
- Phishing
- A criminal activity using social engineering techniques.[1] Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Ebay and Paypal are two of the most targeted companies, and online banks are also common targets. Phishing is typically carried out using email or an instant message,[2] and often directs users to a website, although phone contact has been used as well.[3] Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, and technical measures.
- R -
- RAM
- Random Access Memory (RAM) is a type of data storage used in computers. It takes the form of integrated circuits that allow the stored data to be accessed in any order - that is, at random and without the physical movement of the storage medium or a physical reading head.
- S -
- SMiShing
- SMiShing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques similar to phishing. Smishing victims receive SMS messages along these lines: "We’re confirming you've signed up for our dating service. You will be charged $2/day unless you cancel your order on this URL: www.?????.com." When visiting the URL, victims are prompted to download a program which turns out to be a Trojan horse.
- Spam
-
Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages, which are universally undesired. While the most widely recognized form of spam is email spam, the term is applied to similar abuses in other media: instant messaging spam, Usenet newsgroup spam, Web search engine spam, spam in blogs, mobile phone messaging spam, internet forum spam and junk fax transmissions.
Fact: The term 'spam' is derived from the Monty Python SPAM sketch.
- Spyware
-
Spyware is computer software that collects personal information about users without their informed consent.
Spyware gathers information about a user as he or she navigates around the Web. It is intended to track surfing habits in order to build marketing profiles.
- T -
- Trojan (Horse)
-
In the context of computer software, a Trojan horse is a program that unlike a virus contains or installs a malicious program (sometimes called the payload or 'trojan'). The term is derived from the classical myth of the Trojan Horse. Trojan horses may appear to be useful or interesting programs (or at the very least harmless) to an unsuspecting user, but are actually harmful when executed.
There are two common types of Trojan horses. One is otherwise useful software that has been corrupted by a hacker inserting malicious code that executes while the program is used. Examples include various implementations of weather alerting programs, computer clock setting software, and peer to peer file sharing utilities. The other type is a standalone program that masquerades as something else, like a game or image file, in order to trick the user into some misdirected complicity that is needed to carry out the program's objectives.
- U -
- URL
-
Uniform Resource Locator (pronounced: U-R-L or earl)
A URL describes the location and access method of a resource on the Internet; for example, the URL "http://www.netlingo.com" describes the type of access method being used (http-the protocol) and the server location that hosts the Web site (www.netlingo.com-the address).
All Web sites have URLs. One could say a URL is what a telephone number is to a telephone or what a street address is to a house. Because Web site URLs are sometimes long and hard to read, Web browsers (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) have a bookmark feature that gives users the opportunity to save the location (the URL) of sites you'd like to return to.
- USB
- Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to interface devices. It was originally designed for personal computers, but it has become commonplace on handheld devices such as portable memory devices, video game consoles, PDAs and portable media players.
- UTM
- (Unified Threat Management) Refers to a stand-alone appliance or a software package that combines a firewall, antivirus, spam and content filtering as well as intrusion detection.
- V -
- VGA
- Video Graphics Array (VGA) is an analog computer display standard first marketed in 1987 by IBM. While it has been obsolete for some time except in the pocket PC market where it is becoming the new standard, it was the last graphical standard that the majority of manufacturers decided to follow, making it the lowest common denominator that all PC graphics hardware supports prior to a device-specific driver being loaded. For example, the Microsoft Windows splash screen appears while the machine is still operating in VGA mode, which is the reason that this screen always appears in reduced resolution and color depth.
- Virus
- A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. The original may modify the copies or the copies may modify themselves, as occurs in a metamorphic virus. A virus can only spread from one computer to another when its host is taken to the uninfected computer, for instance by a user sending it over a network or carrying it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, or USB drive. Additionally, viruses can spread to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer. Viruses are sometimes confused with computer worms and Trojan horses.
- W -
- Worm
- A worm (short for Write Once, Read Many) is known primarily as a virus, it is a computer program that can replicate itself. First postulated by computer science researcher Fred Cohen in the 1970's, computer viruses are small programs that propagate by attaching copies of themselves to other programs. The most famous examples include the 1987 "Internet worm," which shut down hundreds of computers nationwide, and the July 2001 "Code Red worm."
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