- Industry: Software
- Number of terms: 9143
- Number of blossaries: 1
- Company Profile:
A real-time scanner is an anti-virus software application that operates as a background task, allowing the computer to continue working at normal speed while it works. Also see: on-access scanner.
Industry:Software
Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts the hard drive of the PC that it infects. The hacker then extorts money from the PC’s owner in exchange for decryption software to make the PC’s data usable again.
Industry:Software
A program infector virus infects other program files once an infected application is executed and the activated virus is loaded into memory.
Industry:Software
It is considered the strongest program for encrypting data files and/or email messages on PCs and Macintosh computers. PGP includes authentication to verify the sender of a message and non-repudiation to prevent someone denying they sent a message.
Industry:Software
Polymorphic viruses create varied (though fully functional) copies of themselves as a way to avoid detection by anti-virus software. Some polymorphic virus use different encryption schemes and require different decryption routines. Thus, the same virus may look completely different on different systems or even within different files. Other polymorphic viruses vary instruction sequences and use false commands in the attempt to thwart anti-virus software. One of the most advanced polymorphic viruses uses a mutation engine and random-number generators to change the virus code and its decryption routine. Also see: mutating virus.
Industry:Software
To piggyback is to gain unauthorized access to a system by exploiting an authorized user's legitimate connection.
Industry:Software
Phishing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques through email or instant messaging. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire other people’s personal information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an apparently official electronic communication.
Industry:Software
Pharming is the exploitation of a vulnerability in DNS server software that allows a hacker to redirect a legitimate web site's traffic to a counterfeit web site. The spoofed site is designed to steal personal information such as usernames, passwords, and account information.
Industry:Software
Peer-to-peer (P2P) networking is a distributed system of file sharing where any PC on the network can see any other PC on the network. Users access each others’ hard drives to download files. This type of file sharing is valuable, but it brings up copyright issues for music, movies, and other shared media files. Users are also vulnerable to viruses, Trojans, and spyware hiding in files. Also see: Trojan horse, spyware.
Industry:Software
Payload refers to the effects produced by a virus attack. It sometimes refers to a virus associated with a dropper or Trojan horse.
Industry:Software
