Glossary

Digital document emitted by an independent entity that guarantees the identity of the systems and persons on Internet. The certificate security is protected by cryptographic techniques.

Any malevolent or illegal programme or one with intention to annoy. They are generally designed to function without the intervention of the user.

Group of letters, ciphers and symbols, including phrases, used to identify users in a computer system. To ensure an effective password it should be chosen in a way that makes it difficult to be discovered by an attacker.

These are emails in which you are asked to send them on to more people so that these people also send them on. They are one of the possible sources of email problems, as they often contain false information, can be carriers of viruses etc.

Area dealing with the security of transmission and storage of information.

Type of malicious code whose principal characteristic is that of copying from one system to another over the Internet.

Computer attack that, without affecting the information contained in the system, leaves it out of order. The denial could be produced due to overloading or blocking of the machines.

Techniques that attempt to attack the computer systems by fooling their users and administrators. The majority of the techniques of social engineering are similar to swindles.

The Spy programmes or spyware are malicious or fraudulent applications that are installed hidden within other programmes downloaded by the user. This type of programme can carry out various actions:

Some deal with collecting information from the system in which they are installed in order to send it over the Internet: others exist that continually show undesired publicity or modify pages shown to include links that were not included in the original. All these activities are hidden behind confusing authorizations, so that the user is not usually conscious of them.

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Group of technologies that permit a control of the information transmitted over the Internet. The filter of contents is used to block viruses sent by email, to control internet access of under age children etc.

Information that, having been sent by an Internet server to the navigator, reappears in every new connection. This can be used for legitimate reasons such as for identification of users, or malevolent reasons such as for unauthorized storage of navigation guidelines.

Computer attack in which the attacker succeeds in obtaining complete control over the machine. During the intrusion the attacker can obtain and alter all the data in the computer, modify its operation and even attack other computers.

Undesired commercial mail sent over the Internet. The volume and content of the spam can cause considerable problems in the use of email services.

A so Phishing attack uses misleading emails and fraudulent servers to deceive users of the Internet services. In the case of financial entities, its aim is to make users divulge their details, such as their credit card number or PIN access code.

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Computer system whose mission is to act as mediator between one system and another via Internet. Amongst the missions of a Proxy are those of accelerating Internet access, content filtering of those have gained access and protection of the systems avoiding their direct communication.

Digital information associated with a specific operation carried out over the Internet that, together with those certified, permits the guaranteeing of participants in a transaction.

Computer system that controls computer and service access on a net. This could be a specialist system or an installed programme (personal firewall). When this control is carried out on information transmitted and not simply on the connection, the system used is a proxy.

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A malicious code camouflaged within another apparently useful and inoffensive programme. Trojans can be found within known programmes, making it necessary to control the source of software.

It is the best-known type. This is a programme that copies itself inside other programmes and attempts to reproduce itself the most times possible. Although it is not so in every case, the majority of times the virus, as well as copying itself, alters or destroys information in the systems in which it is running.

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