Adware
Advertising supported software that automatically displays advertising when used.
Anti-virus software
Software that detects and removes computer viruses and other malware.
Data
Information that can be processed and stored by computer systems.
Data Recovery
Process of recovering data from back-ups in the event of data corruption or deletion.
Data Transfer
Transferring data from one computer or computer system to another.
DoS Attack
Denial of Service attack – an attempt to make a machine or network unavailable to users. Often takes the form of hundreds of automated messages per second to overload web servers
Firewall
Software or hardware with the function to screen out hackers, viruses, Trojans and worms.
Hacker
Person who uses computers to gain unauthorised access to data.
IP Address
Unique string of characters identifying any device on a TCP/IP network.
Malware
Any software specifically designed to disrupt, damage or expose a computer system. Examples of malware include viruses, ransomware, spyware etc.
Network
A group of inter-connected computers and computer peripherals.
PC
Personal computer
Peripheral device
Computer device that is not part of the computer itself. Examples of peripheral device include mouse, keyboard, speakers, webcam.
Ransomware
Type of malware that disables a computer in some way and demands a ransom to restore access.
Server
A computer or device on a network that manages network resources.
Spyware
Software that tracks behaviour and key strokes on a computer and transmits that information to another entity. Often used to display advertising, can also capture user-ids and passwords as they are entered.
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol – the basic communication language of the Internet and Intranets.
Trojan
Malicious code within an apparently benign program – can take control and/or do damage to the computer.
Virus
Small computer program or script that runs without user’s knowledge and can do damage such as deleting files. Often also replicates itself across the system.
Worm
Type of virus that replicates itself across networks. Doesn’t need a host program.