COMPUTER CONCEPTS Vocabulary

1. COMPUTER CONCEPTSVocabulary Chapter 9 Data Security CIS 120

2. Operator error • A mistake made by a computer user. CIS 120

3. Power failure • A complete loss of power to the computer system. CIS 120

4. Power spike • A sudden increase of power that lasts less than a millionth of a second. CIS 120

5. Power surge • A sudden increase of power that can last several seconds. CIS 120

6. 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. CIS 120

7. 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. CIS 120

8. Power strip • A device that provides multiple outlets, but no protection for power surges and spikes. CIS 120

9. Surge strip • A device that protects computer equipment from electrical spikes and surges (also called a surge suppressor or surge protector). CIS 120

10. Crackers • People who break into a computer system with intent to damage files or steal data. CIS 120

11. Cyberpunks • People who break into computers, especially Internet computers, to steal data, modify files, or plant viruses. CIS 120

12. 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. CIS 120

13. 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. CIS 120

14. File virus • A computer virus that infects executable files, that is programs with exe filename extensions. CIS 120

15. 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. CIS 120

16. 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. CIS 120

17. 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. CIS 120

18. Macro virus • A computer virus that infects the macros that are attached to documents and spreadsheets. CIS 120

19. 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. CIS 120

20. 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 pass- word begins with the letters "DB"). CIS 120

21. Time bomb • A type of computer program that stays in a computer system undetected until it is triggered at a certain date or time. CIS 120

22. 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. CIS 120

23. Worm • A software program designed to enter a computer system, usually a network, through security "holes" and replicate itself. CIS 120

24. Antivirus software • A computer program used to scan a computer's memory and disks to identify, isolate, and eliminate viruses. CIS 120

25. 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. CIS 120

26. 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. CIS 120

27. Data security • Techniques that provide protection for data. CIS 120

28. Risk management • The process of weighing threats to computer data against the expendability of that data and the cost of protecting it. CIS 120

29. Acceptable use policy • A set of rules and regulations that specify how a computer system should be used and set the penalties for misuse. CIS 120

30. End-user procedures • A set of formalized steps that a person must follow to perform a computing task. CIS 120

31. Biometrics • Biological measurements, such as fingerprinting, that are used in the context of computers to verify a person's identity. CIS 120

32. 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. CIS 120

33. User rights • Rules that specify the directories and files that an individual user can access. CIS 120

34. 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. CIS 120

35. 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. CIS 120

36. Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) • A popular public key encryption system. CIS 120

37. 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. CIS 120

38. Digital certificate • A security method that identifies the author of an ActiveX control. A computer programmer can "sign" a digital certificate after being approved. CIS 120

39. Firewall • A method for preventing hostile pro- grams, such as Java applets, from entering a network, usually by installing firewall software that filters out suspicious packets. CIS 120

40. Java applet • Small programs that add processing and interactive capabilities to Web pages. CIS 120

41. Sandbox • A metaphor for the limited areas and equipment that a Java applet can access on a computer. CIS 120

42. 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. CIS 120

43. 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. CIS 120

44. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) • A security protocol that uses encryption to establish a secure connection between a computer and a Web server. CIS 120

45. Downtime • Time during which a computer system is not functioning. CIS 120

46. Hardware redundancy • Maintaining equipment that duplicates the functions of equipment critical to computing activities. CIS 120

47. 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. CIS 120

48. Copy disk • A utility program that duplicates the contents of an entire floppy disk. CIS 120

49. Copy utility • A program that copies one or more files. CIS 120

50. Backup software • The software used to specify the folders and files that should be included when making a backup of hard disk data. CIS 120