U

u
Typewritten representation of the Greek letter (mu), abbreviation for micro- (1/1,000,000).

Uberhackers
Talented individuals who write the exploits often relied on by scriptkiddies, ethical hackers, and crackers.

ubiquitous
In use everywhere.

uC
Abbreviation for microcontroller.

UCM (Use Case Maps)
A visual representation of the requirements of a system, using a precisely defined set of symbols for responsibilities, system components, and sequences.

UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration)
A framework for describing web services so other Internet users can find them Click here.

UDDRP, UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy)
A process established by ICANN to allow trademarkholders to wrest control domain names away from domain name poachers.

.uk
a suffix indicating that an e-mail or web address is registered in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).

U.K. Data Protection Act of 1998
Concerned with parties' rights to access personal data, such as credit references; parties' rights related to automated decision making; and parties' rights regarding the blocking, erasing, or destroying of electronic information.

U.K. GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters)
In the United Kingdom, one of a number of government agencies existing to deal with national security issues.

U.K. National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre (NISCC)
An organization in the United Kingdom which comprises a number of departments and is charged with protecting the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). Click CPNI for more information.

UKUSA Alliance and ECHELON
The largest electronic English-speaking spy network in history. Click UKUSA for more information.

UL
HTML tag that indicates an unnumbered list.

U/lc (upper and lower case)
Mixed case.

UML (Unified Modeling Language)
A language used for visual representation of software systems.

unboxing
The automatic conversion of simple objects back into value types.

UNC (Uniform Naming Convention)
The standard way of idnetifying shared resources on Microsoft Networks.

underflow
In computation, a situation that arises when a number is too small to be represented in the chosen format.

Undernet
One of the largest real-time chat networks in the world. Click Undernet for more information.

underrun
An unexpected lack of data.

undo
A command that allows the computer user to reverse the effects of the most recent operation.

undocumented
Not described in the literature provided by the manufacturer of a product.

ungroup
(In vector graphics) to cause a grouped object to be broken down into its component objects.

unhandled exception
An error condition, such as inability to write on a file, that was detected while running a program that provided no specific way of handling it.

Unicode
A system for representing characters using up to 20 bits, allowing for 1.048,576 different characters, enough to represent all of the written languages of the world. This contrasts with the 256 characters possible in ASCII and similar systems. See Unicode for more information.

uniform fill
One solid color or tint that fills a graphical object.

Uniform Resource Idetifier (URI)
A global identifier for an Internet resource that could be local or remotely accessible.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
Web address.

uninitialized variable
A variable in a computer program that has not been given a value.

uniterruptible power supply (UPS)
A power supply that uses batteries to continue providing electricity to a computer for a few minutes in the event of a power failure.

union
A data item that can hold values of more than one type.

Universal Serial Bus(USB)
A high-performance device standard(based on serial bus architecture) found on computers, printers, and scanners.

UNIX
An operating system, or family of operating systems, developed at Bell Laboratories in the early 1970s as a replacement for an earlier system called Multics. The most popular versions of Unix are Solaris and Linux.

unsharp masking
A method of sharpening an image by subtracting from it a blurred copy of itself.

Unstructured External and Internal Threats
People inside or outside of an organization who perpertrate threats.

uP
Abbreviation for microprocessor.

uplevel
Pertaining to a later version of a project.

uplink
A connection from one hub to another hub.

upload
To transmit a file to a central computer from a smaller computer or a computer at a remote location.

uppercase
Captial letters, such as A, B, C, as opposed to a, b, c.

upstream
Describing data transmission in a direction from the client to the server, or from the peripheral to the main computer.

upward compatibility
The situation in which a computer program or accessory works not only on the machine for which it was designed, but also on newer models.

urban legend
A story that is told by highly educated people as if it were true, but cannot be confirmed.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
A way of specifying the location of publicly available information on the Internet, in the (somewhat outdated) form:
http://csam.uga.edu:80

.us
Suffix indicating that an email or web address is registered in the United States.

USB (Universal Serial Bus)
A standard way of connecting peripherals to computers, designed to replace serial, parallel, SCSI, and other kinds of ports.

USB flash drive
A small, keychained sized flash memory device a USB interface, treated by the computer as if it were a disk drive; also called a thumb drive.

USB hard disk
A hard disk that connects to the USB disk of a computer.

USB root hub
The interface between a motherboard and a set of USB ports.

USB storage device
A data storage device that connects to a USB port.

USC United States Code)
The collection of laws of the United States of America.

V

V.24
One of the recommended uniform standards published by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for data communications over telephone networks. In the computer underground, it is one of many other important phreaker jargon items that neophyte phreakers learn in their early stages of development.

V.44
An ITU standard for compression of data sent by modem, replacement, V.42 BIS and providing greater compression.

V.92
An ITU-T standard for sending data by modem over telephone lines, similar to v.90 except that connections are established more quickly and the user can interrupt the connection to make a voice telephone call, then return to it without loss of data and without having to dial up again.

vacuum tube
An electronic component consisting of electrodes placed inside an evacuated glass tube.

validation
The demonstration that hardware and software implements each of the hardware and software requirements correctly.

value-added reseller
Someone who buys computers, improves them, and then sells them as complete working systems.

vampire tap
A cable-piercing connector used with thickwire Ethernet coaxial cables.

vandalism
On the Internet, this includes acts such as cracker's replacing the original Web page with profanity or some racist or sexist campaign.

vanilla
Plain, without features.

vaporware
Software that is announced by a vendor but never actually reaches the market.

var
The keyword that marks variable declarations.

variable
A symbol in a programming language that represents a data item, such as a numerical value or a charater string, that can change its value during the execution of a program.

variable pitch
Varying width of characters in a typeface.

variant
A data type that can take on values corresponding to more than one type.

VAX
A popular line of minicomputers produced by Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1970s and 1980s.

VAX/VMS
An obsolete Digital Equipment Corporation computer.

VBScript
A Microsoft product for adding executable commands to a using a language based on Visual Basic.

VDSL (Very high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line)
A type of high-speed network connection provided through ordinary telephone lines.

VDT (video display terminal)
A computer screen

vector graphics
A method of creating pictures on computers by telling it to draw lines in particular positions.

vector processor
A compiler that can perform an operation on an entire array of numbers in a single step. Cray supercomputers are vector processors. Click here for more information on Cray.

verification
Confirmation by examining and providing objective evidence that specified requirement have been fulfilled.

verifier
A program that checks to make sure that a file is truly a Java class file.

vertical
Paper oriented so that it is taller than wide.

VGA
The video system introduced by IBM on the PS/2 computers in 1987, the basis of current PC graphics.

video
1. The signals sent from a computer to its monitor screen. 2. Moving pictures displayed on a computer.

video capture
The process of digitizing moving television images and storing them in a computer.

video card
A plug-in circuit board that enables a computer to dispaly information on a particular type of monitor.

video chat
An informal conversation using NETCAMS to enable chatters to see one another.

videoconferencing
The use of video cameras and computer networking to enable paticpants to converse and see one another.

videomail
Email consisting of a video presentation, often a message recorded by the sender with NETCAM.

video memory
The memory on a video card in which a computer keeps track of the present contents on the screen.

viewer
A program for viewing graphics files in a particular format.

vignette
A rounded image with edges that shade gradually into the background.

virtual machine
A computer that does not physically exist but is simulated by another computer.

virtual memory
A way of extending the effective size of a computer's memory by using a disk file to simulate additional memory space.

Virtual Private Network
Use of public networks to conduct private data communications.

virtual reality
The simulation of a person's entire environment by computer.

virus
A computer program automatically copies itself, thereby "infecting" other disks or programs without the user knowing it, and then plays some kind of trick or disrupts the operation of a computer.

Virus and Worm Production and Release
A form of cyberspace vandalism causing corruption, and possible erasing of data.

Virus Creation Tool
Toolkit allowing a user to make malware by simply choosing its features.

virus protection software
A computer program that offers protection from viruses by making additional checks of the integrity of the operating system.

virus signature
Sequence of bytes in the machine code of the virus.

Visicalc
The first computer spreadsheet program, developed for the Apple II in the late 1970s.

Visio
A widely used software package for creating business and technical diagrams.

vision, computer
The use of computers to recognize objects in images.

visit
The occurence of one web browser requesting documents from a site during a short period of time.

Visual Basic
One of the first successful interactive development environments for Windows programming, introduced by Microsoft in 1991.

visual chat
A chat room or similar online converssation where, in addition to chat handles, users are represented by graphics.

visualization
In scientific computing, the science and art of making information visible through graphs, charts, and animation.

Visual Studio
Development environment provided by Microsoft for Visual Basic, C++, and C#.

VLSI (very large scale integration)
The manufacture of inegrated circuits (silicon chips) containing 10,000 or more logic gates.

VM/ESA (Virtual Machine/Enterprise Systems Architecture)
An operating system for large mainframe IBM computers, such as the 370, 3081, and 390, based on the idea of one computer simulating multiple copies of itself.

voice chat
An audio conversation or conference with multiple paticipants, transmitted by computer network.

voice mail
Messages that are received by telephone, recorded, and played automatically when the recipients request them.

voice recognition
1. The recognition of spoken words by a computer.
2. The identification of people by computers that recognize the distinctive characteristics of their voices.

void
In C and related programming languages, a keyword that means "no data type" declares a function or method that returns no value or a pointer to an unknown type.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
The transmission of voice telephone conversations through the Internet or through IP networks.

voken (virtual token)
An advertisement that appears over the content of a browser window.

volatile
Not permanent, erased when turned off.