A

A
Abbreviation used in HTML to indicate an anchor, a link to another location.

A4
The standard size of typing paper everywhere but in the United States. The size is 210 x 297 millimeters.

abend Abnormal termination of a software process or a system; a crash.

abort
Cancel an action or command.

ABC
Atanasoff Berry Computer--A machine developed in 1939 at Iowa State University by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry for solving equational systems. Although it did not allow for stored programs, it was an important predecessor to the ENIAC and other computers.

Abort, Retry, Fail
An error message displayed by DOS and similar operating systems when a disk is unreadable or some other input or output operation is physically impossible.

abs
In many programming languages and on scientific calculators, the function that calculates absolute value.

absolute address
A fixed location in the computer's memory.

absolute URL
A URL that contains the full address, identifying the machine, directory, and file.

abstract
A summary of a document or a file.

Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
Standard for describing data objects.

accelerator
A device that makes an operation run faster.

accents
Marks added to letters to indicate differences of pronunciation.

Acceptable Internet Use Policy
A written agreement outlining the terms and conditions of Internet usage, including rules of online behavior and access privileges.

acceptable-use policy
A policy established by the owner of a computer system, or by an Internet service provider, concerning acceptable use of the computer and network facilities.

acceptance inspection
The final inspection to determine whether a facility or system meets the specified technical and performance standards.

Access
1. A highly programmable relational database marketed by Microsoft as part of the Office suite of products.
2.Ability and means to communicate with or otherwise interact with a system.

access control
A means of controlling access by users to computer systems or to data on a computer system.

access control list
In Windows, the list of which users or groups are allowed to use a file, directory, or device.

access control mechanism
Hardware or software features, operating procedures, management procedures, and various combinations of these designed to detect and prevent unauthorized access,and to permit authorized access in an automated system.

access control policy
Outlines the controls placed on both physical access to the computer system and to the software in order to limit access to computer networks and data.

access control system
Evaluates the security levels of both the user and the computer systems or data on a system to be accessed.

access level
The hierarchial portion of the security level used to identify the sensitivity of data and the clearance or authorization of users.

access period
Segment of time, generally expressed on a daily basis, during which access rights prevail.

access time
The amount of time needed by a memory device to transfer data to the central processing unit (CPU).

access type
The nature of an access right to a particular device, program, or file (e.g., read, write, execute, append, modify, delete, or create)

account
Authorization to use a computer or any kind of computer service, even if free of charge.

accountability
The readiness to have one's actions, judgements, and failures to act to be questioned by responsible others.

account harvesting
Involves using using computer programs to search areas on the Internet in order to gather lists of email addresses from a number of sources, including chat rooms, domain names, instant message users, message boards, news groups, online directories for Web pages, Web pages, and other online destinations.

accreditation
Formal declaration by the command or management authority that the system is approved to operate in a particular security mode using a prescribed set of safeguards.

accreditation authority
Management or command level with authority to accept a particular system.

accumulator
The register where a computer stores the result of an arithmetic operation.

ACM (Association for Computer Machinery)
A worldwide association of computer professionals located in the United States. Click here for more information.

ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface)
A set of standard hardware/software interactions that give the operating system the ability to direct power management of hardware devices.

acquire
To obtain a file from a camera or scanner.

Acrobat
Software from Adobe Sytems, Inc, for reading Portable Document Format (pdf) files.

acronym
A word formed from the initial part of other words.

activate
1. To chose a window in which you want to type. 2. To start software by double clicking on its name or icon.

activation
In business continuity planning, the implemetation of a procedure, activity, or plan in response to an event or incident.

active
Exploit involving an attempt to change or influence a system.

Active Attack
Carrying out an action against a targeted computer system.

Active Color
The color currently selected in a paint or drawing program.

Active countermeasures
Measures taken in response to an alarm, or countermeasures in response to block an active attack.

Active Desktop
In Windows, the ability to use a web page as the desktop, not just as one of the programs running on it.

active matrix
A type of liquid crystal display (LCD) that produces higher contrast than earlier passive-matrix displays by incorporating transistors into the LCD matrix.

active response
The system automatically blocks or acts against the progress of a detected attack.

active window
Window currently in use.

ActiveX
A marketing name used by Microsoft for many types of software components implemented in the Component Object Model (COM) architecture.

Activity Log
Report in which all the recorded computer events are sequently ordered and displayed.

activity monitor
Type of antiviral software that checks for signs of suspicious activity, such as attempts to rewrite program files, format disks, etc.

actor
In computer animation, any object that moves in a specified manner along a path whether or not it represents a human.

actual parameter
The value actually passed to a function or procedure in a programming language.

Ada
A programming language developed in the late 1970s for the U.S. Department of Defense. It is named for Augusta Ada Byron, countess of Lovelace, who worked with Babbage's mechanical calculator in the nineteenth century. Click here for more information.

Adams, Douglas
Wrote Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy. His book demonstrated much of the zen-like thinking used in hacking.

Click here for more information.

adaptive technology
Technology that helps people work around physical limitations

add noise
A photopaint filter that adds speckled text to a picture

add-on security
The retrofiting of protection mechanisms, implemented by hardware or software.

address
1. A number or bit pattern that uniquely idetnifies a location in a computer memory.
2. An electronic mail address.
3. A URL identifying a webpage.

address book
A facility in an email program, chat program, or web browser for storing addresses of individuals or web sites.

address verification
A mechanism used to control access to a wired or wireless computer network.

admin
Abbreviation for administrator.

administrative security
The management constraints and supplemental controls established to provide an acceptable level of protection for data.

Administrator
The account name used by the system adminstrator under windows NT and its successors.

Adobe Systems
The software company that developed the PDF format for distributing documents on the web, the freely available Acrobat reader for viewing PDF files, and the PostScript command language for output devices.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)
A widely used way of providing a high-speed Internet connection through ordinary telephone line; called asymmetric because the upstream and downstream data rates are different.

Advanced Audio Coding (AUC)
An audio compression format newer and more efficient than Mp3.

Advanced Encryption Standard(AES)
Standard developed by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology to succeed DES. Intended to specify an unclassified, publicly disclosed, symmetric encyrption algorithm, available royalty-free worldwide.

adventure game
A game in which the player navigates through an interactive story, solving puzzles, and exploring areas.

advesary
Entity that attacks, or is a threat to a system.

adware
Software whose main purpose is to display advertisements on the user's computer.

.aero
A suffix indicating that a web or email address belongs to some part of the aeronautical industryn (in any country).

AF(audio frequency)
A frequency within the range of human hearing, 20 to 20,000 hertz.

AFAIK
Online abbreviation for "as far as I know."

AFAIR
Online abbreviation for "as far as I remember."

affiliate program
A promotional program whereby a business makes payments or provides free services to others who refer customers to them.

AFK
Online abbreviation for "away from keyboard."

AfriNic
The Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources for Africa, based in Mauritius.

agent
A piece of software that performs a service for someone, usually silently and automatically.

aggregation
Circumstance in which higher level information (which may be thought to be subject to a higher level of security clearance) may be inferred from a large number of lower level data items.

aggregation problem
Occurence when a subject's right to individual pieces of information results in knowledge to which the subject does not have a right.

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
A fast bus connection that allows the graphics apadpter to communicate with the CPU at a higher speed than the conventional ISA, EISA, or PCI bus.

AIM (American Online Instant Messenger)
A widely used chat program.

airbrush
A tool available in some paint and photopaint programs that simulate the effects of spraying paint.

airplane rule
Complexity increases the possibility of failure; simplicity increases robustness.

alarm
Any of a number of devices having three basic components: a sensor (that determines or triggers on some condition), a communications or control system, and an actuator or annunciator (that takes some action or alerts a user or operator). alert
Notification that an event or incident has occured.

alert phase
Initial phase of a business continuity or disaster recovery plan, during which the first emergency actions, and assessments of damage and implications, take place.

ALGOL (Algorithmic Language)
A pair of programming languages that had a strong impact on programming language design.

algorithm
Sequence of steps needed to solve logical or mathematical problems.

alias
Name that an entity uses in place of its real name, in computing usually for purposes of convenience or brevity, but in security often for the purpose of either anonymity or deception.

aliasing
The appearance of false stairsteps or bands in an image, or false frequencies in digitized sound, due to interaction of the original signal with the sampling rate.

align
To make things line up, horizontally or vertically.

allocation unit
The units of disk space that can be allocated to a file. alpha
A measure of the opacity, or visibility, of an object in a graphical image.

Alpha
A fast 64-bit microprocessor originally made by Digital Equipment Corporation, which merged with Compaq. alphabet soup
Unrecognizable abbreviations.

alpha channel
(In photopaint programs)A channel that defines a selection.

alphanumeric characters
Letters and digits.

alpha testing
The first stage of testing of a new software product, carried out by the manufacturer's own staff.

alt
Prefix identifying alternative.

Alt
A key on a computer keyboard that is used to give an alternative meaning to other keys.

Altair
A pioneer microcomputer marketed to hobbyists in 1975, significant because the version of Basic for this machine was the first Microsoft product.

Alta Vista
A popular World Wide Web search engine developed by Digital Equipment Corporation.

alternate routing
Routing of call or message over a substitute route when a primary route is unavailable for immediate use.

alternate site
Site pre-arranged for use in the event of a business continuity incident.

Amazon.com
The first prominent E-Tail merchant. Established as a bookstore in Seattle, Washington (USA), Amazon has since expanded to sell a wide variety of products around the world.

AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)
A manufacturer of digital integrated circuits, including the Athlon and Duron, which are compatible substitutes for Intel's Pentium.

America Online (AOL)
An online infromation service based in Dulles, VA (USA).

AMI (American Megatrends, Inc)
The leading supplier of the BIOS software built into PC motherboards.

Amiga
A computer marketed by Commodore Business Machines in the 1980s and mid 1990s.

ampere (amp)
A unit for measuring electric current.

ampersand
The character &, which stands for the word and.

annual loss expectancy (ALE)
The expected yearly dollar value loss from the system or activity by attacks or threats.

anomaly detection
Detecting intrusions by looking for activity that is different from the user's or system's normal behaviour.

anonymous
The condition of having an identity that is unknown or concealed.

anonymous login
Access control feature (or weakness) in many Internet hosts that enables users to gain access to general purpose or public services and resources on a host (such as allowing any user to transfer data using ftp) without having a pre-established, user-specific account (i.e. username and secret password.)

ANSI bomb
Use of certain codes (escape sequences, usually embedded in text files or email messages)that remap keys on the keyboard to command such as DELETE or FORMAT.

antiviral
Noun. A short form for antivirus software or systems of all types.

antivirus virus
Virus that specifically looks for and removes other viruses.

applet
Small application transported over the networks, especially as an enhancement to a Web page.

application development control
Process or method intended to ensure that an application continues to operate according to its specifications and continues to operate according to its specifications and continues to be available.

application level gateway
Firewall system in which service is provided by processes that maintain complete TCP connection state and sequencing.

sequencing.

archive
Site containing a large number of files, possibly acquired over time, and often publicly accessible. Sometimes these files are compressed.

armoured virus
virus that tries to prevent analysts from examining its code, particularly in terms of resistance to software forensics or forensic programming.

ASCII
American Standard Code for information Interchange, a coding system that ssigns numerical values to characters such as letters, numbers, punctuation, and other symbols, and used in most American manufactured computers.

ASCII files
Files consisting of only ASCII characters, and generally only the printable characters.

assembly language
Computer-oriented language whose instructions are symbolic and usually in one-to-one correspondence with direct computer instructions (machine language). asset
Entity of value to the business or enterprise, be it a computer processor, disk, network link, program, datum, or user.

assurance
Measure of confidence that the security features and architecture of a system accurately mediate and enforce the security policy.