USB [Universal Serial Bus]
USB provides a ‘plug-and-play’ standard for connecting many peripheral devices to a computer simultaneously, without the need for a specific device adapter card for each device. USB allows up to 127...
View ArticleUpload
Where a file is transferred from one computer to another, the sender is said to upload the file. For example, anti-virus updates are uploaded by an anti-virus vendor to their server, to make them...
View ArticleVariant
The term variant refers to a modified version of an existing piece of malicious code. Virus writers are often quick to create new versions of a virus, worm or Trojan that has been ‘successful’, or if...
View ArticleVPN [Virtual Private Network]
A VPN is used to provide remote users with secure access to the private network of a corporation or other organization, over the Internet (rather than using an expensive dedicated leased line). Privacy...
View ArticleVirus definition
Virus definitions (or signatures) contain a unique sequence of bytes used by an anti-virus program to identify each piece of malicious code. Signature analysis is one of the key methods used to find...
View ArticleVBS [Visual Basic Script]
VBS is a script language developed by Microsoft®. Like JavaScript is often used in the development of web pages. For specific tasks, it’s often easier to write a script than to use a formal programming...
View ArticleVoIP [Voice over IP]
VoIP is a technology that lets subscribers to the VoIP service make telephone calls using a computer network that supports IP [Internet Protocol]. VoIP converts the analog signal used in a...
View ArticleVulnerability
A vulnerability is a bug or security flaw in an application or operating system that provides the potential for a hacker or virus writer to gain unauthorized access to, or use of, a user’s computer....
View ArticleWar chalking
War chalking refers to the act of walking round a city or town to locate wireless access points, or ‘hot spots’, in order to gain unauthorized access to unsecured wireless networks. It is so-called...
View ArticleWar driving
War driving refers to the act of driving round a city or town to locate wireless access points, or ‘hot spots’, in order to gain unauthorized access to unsecured wireless networks. The specific process...
View ArticleWeb browser
A web browser is an application that lets a user access and display content from the World Wide Web.
View ArticleWhitelist
Used as one method of filtering spam, a whitelist provides a list of legitimate e-mail addresses or domain names: all messages from whitelisted addresses or domains are automatically passed through to...
View ArticleWiFi
WiFi (short for ‘wireless fidelity’) is the name commonly given to wireless networks that conform to the 802.11 specification laid down by IEEE [Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers]. WiFi...
View ArticleWildList
The WildList was established in July 1993 by anti-virus researcher Joe Wells, was subsequently published monthly by the WildList Organization and is now published by ICSA Labs (part of TrueSecure...
View ArticleWorld Wide Web
The World Wide Web (or WWW for short) was developed by Tim Berners-Lee, a British software consultant who was looking for a way to track associations between pieces of information using a computer...
View ArticleKeylogger
A keylogger can be used by a third-party to obtain confidential data (login details, passwords, credit card numbers, PINs, etc.) by intercepting key presses. Backdoor Trojans typically come with a...
View ArticleCrimeware
is a type of malware developed especially to commit financial crimes automatically. This category of malware includes other categories with similar malicious behavior, such as Banker Trojans and PSW...
View ArticleITW (In-the-Wild) samples
are instances of malicious programs that are found ‘In the Wild’ on a user’s system and are evidence of infection.
View ArticleKaspersky Security Network (KSN)
Kaspersky Security Network (KSN) is a complex distributed infrastructure dedicated to processing depersonalized cybersecurity-related data streams from millions of voluntary participants around the...
View ArticleToolkit
is a set of tools or utilities designed to achieve a particular goal. In the case above, a toolkit is used to create and manage a botnet that is then used to steal users’ online banking credentials.
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