|
Term |
Definition |
Risk Level |
Additional Information |
| Adware | Software which monitors your surfing habits for the purpose of displaying ads which seem appropriate for your surfing habits. | Low | Adware is generally just annoying. However, a lot of adware will slow your computer to a crawl. |
| Spyware | Software which monitors your surfing habits for the purpose of stealing data from your computer or your communications. Spyware generally sends the data it collects to a server owned by the writer of the software. | Medium to High | Spyware can bring your computer to a crawl as well as steal your critical information. |
| Key-logger | A type of spyware which captures all the keystrokes you make on your computer and forwards them to the server owned by the writer of the software. | High | The primary purpose of a key-logger is to capture passwords you use to access sensitive web sites (such as financial institutions, etc.). Once the individual has your password, your money is not safe. |
| Malware | Malicious software. | High | The intent of malware is to cause harm. |
| Virus | A type of malware which is generally intent on corrupting data on your computer, such as deleting files, moving files so programs won’t run, etc. The virus got its name because once your computer gets a virus (i.e., gets infected), it’s very hard to get rid of the virus. | High | The purpose of most viruses is to cause maximum inconvenience to the computer owner and to propagate itself to as many other computers on the network as it can. |
| Trojan Horse | A type of virus. A Trojan Horse disguises itself as a harmless file and may lie benign for a long time after it gets installed on your computer. Then, when you don’t expect it, the Trojan Horse runs and does its damage. | High | A Trojan Horse generally gets installed on a computer through an action of the user. That is, the user unwittingly opens a file which contains the Trojan Horse which allows the virus to install itself. |
| Worm | A type of virus. A worm infects your computer and then spends a large amount trying to propagate itself to other computers on the network. The purpose of a worm is to go unnoticed for as long as it can, stealing data in the background. | High | A worm generally gets installed on a computer through a software error in the computer's operating system. |
| Cookie | A text file that a web site places on your computer so that the web site can identify you easily in the future. Though a cookie contains information about you, its purpose is usually to prevent you from having to enter the same information about yourself over and over every time you visit a web site. | Low | Cookies are usually harmless. Many web sites will not work if you do not configure your browser to accept cookies. |
| Hacker | A computer programmer whose intent is to try to gain unauthorized access to your computer. | Though "hacking" is illegal, most hackers don't consider themselves criminals. Most hackers do what they do for the fun of it. A hacker is usually just out to prove that he/she is smarter than you and all the security measures which you've put in place to stop him/her. | |
| Cracker | A hacker with evil or malicious intent. | ||
| WEP | Wired Equivalent Privacy. A type of wireless encryption which uses a key of either 64 bits or 128 bits to encrypt the data stream. | A 64 bit key is easier to "crack" than a 128 bit key, but 64 bit encryption is much faster than 128 bit encryption. | |
| WPA | Wi-fi Protected Access. A type of wireless encryption which uses a key of 128 bits to encrypt the data stream and changes the key value periodically. | WPA is much more secure than (i.e., stronger than) WEP. | |
| ESSID | Extended Service Set IDentifier. A name used to identify a wireless network. | The ESSID is defined on the wireless router. |