C

Information on this site contributed by Cecilia Figueroa, Desert Rose Adult High School, June 2007

C
A computer programming language developed at Bell Laboratories in the 1970s. It was based on two earlier languages, B(1970), and BCPL(1967).

C++
An object-oriented programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup at Bell Laboratories in the mid-1980s as a successor to C.

C#
A programming language developed by Anders Hejlsberg for Windows programming under Microsoft's .Net framework.

CA (Certificate Authority)
An agency that issues digital certificates.

cable modem
A modem that provides computer communication over television cables (either coaxial or fiber-optic) rather than telephone lines.

cache
A place where data can be stored to avoid having to read the data from a slower device such as a disk.

cacls (presumably "change access control lists")
A powerful console-mode command in Windows 2000 and it successors for changing permissions security attributes for files. Example: cacls myfile.txt/g "Domain Users":R gives all members of the "Domain Users" permissions to read myfile.txt.

CAD (Computer-Aided Design)
The use of a computer for design work in such fields as engineering or architecture, with the computer's graphics capabilities substituting for work that would have traditionlly been done with pencil and paper.

Caffrey, Aaron(1982-)
In 2001, Aaron Caffrey, age 19, was charged with cracking the computing system of the Port of Houston in Texas (one of the United States' largest ports). Caffrey supposedly froze the port's Web service, which had important files such as shipping information and the names of companies responsible for helping ships navigate in and out of the harbor.
In 2003, a jury in Britain cleared Caffrey of the charges, after he said in his defense that crackers had broken into his computer and used it to launch the attack. He admitted, however, to not only being a member of a group called Allied Haxor Elite (a cracker group), but also to cracking computers for friends as a security test. For more on Caffrey click here

CAI (computer-aided instruction)
This is the teaching of any kind of knowledge to people with the aid of a computer.

Cairo
Microsoft's code name for a version for Windows under development during the mid-1990s.

cakebox
The round plastic box in which bulk recordable CDs are supplied.

calibration
Adjustment of image values to ensure faithful rendering of colors and gray tones when output to a printer or imagesetter.

call
A statement in a programming language which transfers control of execution to a subprogram.

call back
Procedure for identifying a remote terminal. In a call back, the host system disconnects the caller and then dials the authorized telephone number of the remote terminal to reestablish the connection.

Call-Back Verification
A security feature enabling a host to not only disconnect a remote caller after a positive connection but also recall the remote computer, usually for security verification.

Caller ID
A feature provided by the public telephone network to transmit the telephone number of the caller to the recipient.

callout
The line and caption marking specific parts of a labled illustration.

call tree
Structured and generally cascading process for contacting personnel in an emergency, particularly in business continuity planning.

Call Waiting
A service offered by many American telephone companies that makes your telephone beep if someone tries to call you while you are already using the phone.

-cam
Abbreviation for camera.

CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing)
The use of computers in a manufacturing process. For example, a computer could store a three-dimensional representation of an object and then control the manufacture of the object by automated machinery.

camel notation
A way of combining words by running them together, capitalizing every word except the first. Example: thisIsAnExample. A word written this way has a low head and one or more humps, like a camel.

camera-ready copy
Artwork or printed pages that are ready to be photograped and offset printed.

camping out
A cracking technique that involves waiting for a vulnerability to come along so that it can be exploited by the cracker.

Canadian Communications Security Establishment
Provides foreign signal intelligence, provides advice and services to the Canadian government to help protect its electronic information and information infrastructures.
Click here.

cancel
Stop the execution of a command.

cancelbot
A computer program that automatically cancels certain messages from a newsgroup or other public forum.

capability
Protected identifier that identifies the object and specifies the access rights to be allowed to the accessor (or subject) who possesses the capability.

Capability Maturity Model
A set of criteria developed by the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University for judging and improving the performance of a software development organization.
The model recognizes five levels of security:
1. Initial: Developers work as rugged individuals, trying to emulated other software developers.
2. Repeatable: The work is planned and somewhat predictable.
3. Defined: The work is planned in some detail with a plan that can be, and is, followed.
4. Managed: The work is not only planned but measured.
5. Optimizing: Based on measurements, this process is continuosly improved.
Most software companies never get past the first stage, which is adequate for talented individuals, but leaves the overall organization dependent on their talent.

caps
Capital letters.

Caps Lock
A special keyboard key which acts like the shift key for the keyboard keys.

CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing to tell Computers and Humans Apart)
A challenge-response test whose purpose is to ascertain whether a particular user is human. The test is frequently used to identify human users and block computerized applications when signing up for some forms of Internet accounts.

capture
1. To divert data from a serial or parallel port to a networked printer.
2. To cause a picture or a graphic to be saved as a bitmapped image.
Capture/Relay
A process in which a computer system attacker captures a whole stream of data to replay it later in an attempt to repest the effects.

Carbon application
A software package written to take advantage of new features of MAC OS X, or MAC OS IX.

carbon copy
A copy of an outgoing electronic mail message kept by the sender or forwarded to someone other than the recipient.

card
1. A punched card. 2. A printed circuit board, especially one designed to be added to a microcomputer to provide additional functions.

CardBus
The 32-bit version of the PCMIA.

card reader
A device that eneables a computer to read FLASH MEMORY CARDS.

caret
The character "^."

careware
Shareware that requests a donation to charity rather than a monetary payment to the author.

Carnivore Sniffer
Software used by the Federeal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to detect illegal Internet communications of suspected criminals and terrorists. As of January 2005, the FBI abandoned Carnivore.

carpal tunnel syndrome
A repetitive-use injury of the carpal tunnel (a nerve pathway in the wrist) that affects some typists.

carrier
A signal that has another signal modulated onto it.

cartridge
A self contained, removable part of a computer, usually small and contained in a plastic case.

cascade
To arrange multiple windows so that they look like a stack of cards, with all but the top and left edges of each window hidden by the one in front of it.

cascading menu
A menu that leads to more menus.

cascading style sheet
A set of Html rules governing the appearance of a set of pages at a web site on the World Wide Web.

CASE (computer aided software engineering)
The use of computers to help with the process of designing software.

case
The property of being capitalized.

case fraction
A small fraction that is a single character in a font.

case-sensitive
Distinguishing between upper and lower case letters.

catalog
An older name for a list of the contents of a disk.

category
Restrictive label that has been applied to calssified or unclassified data as a means of increasing the protection of the data and further resricting access to the data.

Category 3 cable, Category 5 cable
A series of standards for 8-conductor unshielded twisted-pair network cables, which can also be used for telephone wiring.

CAV (constant angular velocity)
In disk drives a constant speed of rotation, regardless of whether the track being read is a long one or a short one.

cavity virus
Type of overwriting virus that overwrites either slack space within or behind the target program file, or sections of null data within the file, such that it can infect the host file without increasing the length of the file while also preserving the host's functionality.

cc
The Unix command line that invokes the C compiler, now largely replaced by gcc (GNU C Compiler).

Cc
Abbreviation for carbon copies. In email headers, Cc: precedes additional addresses to which copies of the message should be sent.

CCD image sensor (charge-coupled device)
The electronic image sensor most often used in digital cameras, video cameras, and scanners.

ccTLD (country code Top Level Domain)
A two letter code indicating the country of an Internet address.

CD (Compact Disc)
A type of plastic optically readable disk introduced by Philips and Sony in the 1980s to store digitized music recordings.

CDFS
The CD-ROM file system under Windows 95 and later and OS/2.

CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable)
A type of compact disc that can be recorded by the user.

CD-ROM (Compact Disc--Read Only Memory)
An optical disc like an audio compact disc, but containing computer data.

CD ROM XA (CD-ROM extended architecture)
A set of extensions to the ISO9660 format for compact disc data, allowing sound and video to be interleaved with computer data.

CD-RW(Compact Disc--ReWritable)
A type of CD (Compact Disc) that can be recorded, erased, and reused by the user.

Celeron
A lower-cost version of the Intel Pentium II microprocessor, with less on-chip cache memory.

cell
A unit of information that forms a building block for a chart,database,or a spreadsheet.

cellular modem
A modem that uses a cellular phone for wireless connection to a computer network.

cellular phone cards
Devices that allow users to make prepaid calls on their cellular phones.

cellular telephone
A wireless telephone that communicates through any of a number of antenna towers, each serving a particular "cell" of the city.

center
To cause type or other objects to appear in the middle of the line with equal amounts of space to either side.

Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT)
Located in Washington, D.C., this organization's primary focus is the promotion in a virtual environment of democratic values and constitutional freedoms.

centi-
Metrix prefix meaning /100.

Centrino
A set of integrated circuits made by Intel comprising the Pentium M microprocessor and associated components designed for use in laptop computers with wireless networking.

Centronics interface
A standard protocol for paralleldata transmission to and from microcomputer equipment, especially printers.

CERT
The Computer Emerbency Response Team established at the Software Engineering Insitute (SEI) of Carnegie-Mellon University after the 1988 Inernet worm attack.

certificate
Digitally signed statement that contains information about an entity and the entity's public key.

certificate revocation list (CRL)
Document maintained and published by a certification autority lisitng those certificated previously issued by the CA that are no longer valid.

certification
The comprehensive evaluation of the technical and nontechnical security features of a system and other safeguards, made in support of the accreditation process, that establishes the extent to which a particular design and implementation meets a specified set of security requirements.

certificate authority
A trusted organization that issues digital certificates.

CGI
1. Common Gateway Interface--A standard way for computer programs to generate web pages as needed, containing current information of the results of computations.
2. Computer Generated Image--A method of animation in which the computer creates two-dimensional moving images of three-dimensional objects,replacing older animation techniques that involved series hand-drawn or hand-edited images.

CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile)
An ANSI standard style format for graphical data.

.ch
Suffix indicating that an e-mail address or website originates in Switzerland.

chad
The small pieces of paper that have been punched out of a PUNCHED CARD or punched paper tape.

chain letter
A message that is intended to be forwarded from each recipient to as many others as possible.

channel
1. A high speed data communication device used to interface IBM mainframe computers with input-output devices.
2. In desktop publishing, a set of images that will compose the final image when combined.
3. A discussion format in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or a similar service.
4. A web page that is constantly updated, so that viewing it is like watching a television channel.

chaining
A method of combining data from earlier blocks into the encryption of the next block so that any pattern in a message will not be encrypted more than once.

Challenge-Response Authentication
In computer security, challenge-response refers to a secret that will lead to authentication of a user. After a use requests access to a system, the server sends back random data, at which point the user encrypts the data using a password. CIA (Central Intelligence Agency)
In the United States, this is an independent body that gives security intelligence to senior policymakers, particularly information regarding threats to the U.S having origins in nation states and foreign organizations. The information disclosed pertains to threats in the real world as well as the virtual world, including information about cyber attacks and cyberterrorism.