Transcript COMPUTER CONCEPTS Vocabulary

COMPUTER CONCEPTS
Vocabulary
Chapter 9
Data Security
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Operator error
A mistake made by a computer user.
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Power failure
A complete loss of power to the
computer system.
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Power spike
A sudden increase of power that lasts
less than a millionth of a second.
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Power surge
A sudden increase of power that can
last several seconds.
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UPS (uninterruptible power
supply)
A device that contains a battery to
provide a continuous supply of power to
a computer system in case of a power
failure and contains circuitry to protect a
computer from power spikes and
surges.
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MTBF (mean time between
failures)
A measurement of reliability that is
applied to computer components. MTBF
is derived by dividing the number of
failures in test equipment by the total
time they were tested.
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Power strip
A device that provides multiple outlets,
but no protection for power surges and
spikes.
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Surge strip
A device that protects computer
equipment from electrical spikes and
surges (also called a surge suppressor
or surge protector).
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Crackers
People who break into a computer
system with intent to damage files or
steal data.
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Cyberpunks
People who break into computers,
especially Internet computers, to steal
data, modify files, or plant viruses.
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Hackers
The term "hacker” once meant a
computer hobbyist and has also been
used to describe a computer novice. In
most contexts today, it means a person
who has gained illegal access into a
computer system.
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Computer virus
A program designed to attach itself to a
file, reproduce, and spread from one file
to another, destroying data, displaying
an irritating message, or otherwise
disrupting computer operations.
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File virus
A computer virus that infects executable
files, that is programs with exe filename
extensions.
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Payload
The disruptive instructions or message
delivered by a computer virus. Payloads
can range from just being annoying to
destroying data and files on a computer
system.
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Boot sector virus
A computer virus that infects the sectors
on a disk that contain the data a
computer uses during the boot process.
The virus spreads every time the
infected disk is in the computer when it
boots.
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Macro
A small set of instructions that automate
a task. Typically, a macro is created by
performing the task once and recording
the steps. Whenever the macro is
played back, the steps are repeated.
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Macro virus
A computer virus that infects the macros
that are attached to documents and
spreadsheets.
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Trojan horse
A computer program that appears to
perform one function while actually
doing something else, such as inserting
a virus into a computer system or
stealing a password.
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Logic bomb
A computer program that is triggered by
the appearance or disappearance of
specific data (for example, when the
word "terminated" appears in an
employee's record or when a password begins with the letters "DB").
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Time bomb
A type of computer program that stays
in a computer system undetected until it
is triggered at a certain date or time.
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Y2K bug
A time bomb unintentionally created by
programmers when they wrote
programs that used a two-digit field for
the year, with the result that computers
will read the digits 00 as 1900 rather
than as 2000.
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Worm
A software program designed to enter a
computer system, usually a network,
through security "holes" and replicate
itself.
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Antivirus software
A computer program used to scan a
computer's memory and disks to
identify, isolate, and eliminate viruses.
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Checksum
A value, calculated by combining all the
bytes in a file, that is used by virus
detection programs to identify whether
any bytes have been altered.
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Virus signature
The unique computer code contained in
a virus that helps in its identification.
Antivirus software searches for known
virus signatures to identify a virus.
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Data security
Techniques that provide protection for
data.
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Risk management
The process of weighing threats to
computer data against the expendability
of that data and the cost of protecting it.
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Acceptable use policy
A set of rules and regulations that
specify how a computer system should
be used and set the penalties for
misuse.
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End-user procedures
A set of formalized steps that a person
must follow to perform a computing
task.
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Biometrics
Biological measurements, such as
fingerprinting, that are used in the
context of computers to verify a
person's identity.
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Trap door
A way to bypass the normal security
precautions and enter a computer
system. A trap door is often created
during computer installation and testing,
but should be removed before the
computer is placed into service.
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User rights
Rules that specify the directories and
files that an individual user can access.
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Encryption
The process of scrambling or hiding
information so that it cannot be
understood with- out the key necessary
to change it back into its original form.
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Key
In the context of data encryption, a key
is the method used to encrypt or
decipher information as in which
numbers in a code match each letter of
the alphabet.
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Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)
A popular public key encryption system.
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Public key encryption (PKE)
An encryption method that uses a pair
of keys, a public key (known to
everyone) that encrypts the message,
and a private key (known only to the
recipient) that decrypts it.
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Digital certificate
A security method that identifies the
author of an ActiveX control. A computer
programmer can "sign" a digital
certificate after being approved.
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Firewall
A method for preventing hostile programs, such as Java applets, from
entering a network, usually by installing
firewall software that filters out
suspicious packets.
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Java applet
Small programs that add processing
and interactive capabilities to Web
pages.
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Sandbox
A metaphor for the limited areas and
equipment that a Java applet can
access on a computer.
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Cookie
A message sent from a Web server to a
browser and stored on a user's hard
disk, usually containing information
about the user.
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S-HTTP (Secure HTTP)
A method of encrypting data transmitted
between a computer and a Web server
by encrypting individual packets of data
as they are transmitted.
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SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
A security protocol that uses encryption
to establish a secure connection
between a computer and a Web server.
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Downtime
Time during which a computer system is
not functioning.
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Hardware redundancy
Maintaining equipment that duplicates
the functions of equipment critical to
computing activities.
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Backup
A backup is a duplicate copy of a file,
disk, or tape. Also refers to a Windows
utility that allows you to create and
restore backups.
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Copy disk
A utility program that duplicates the
contents of an entire floppy disk.
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Copy utility
A program that copies one or more files.
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Backup software
The software used to specify the folders
and files that should be included when
making a backup of hard disk data.
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Full backup
A copy of all the files on a disk.
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Differential backup
A copy of all the files that have changed
since the last full backup of a disk.
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Incremental backup
A copy of the files that have changed
since the last backup.
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Prepared by James Q. Jacobs
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