N-P

Napster

Program designed for "sharing" MP3-compressed audio files over the Internet. See Gnutella and MP3.

Newbie

Slang term to describe a novice or beginner.

Nuker

A malicious program designed to crash another computer.

Online harassment program

A program designed to harass users on specific online service, such as America Online, or in chat rooms. Such programs are often used to trick people into giving up their credit card numbers or passwords.

Open source

A type of program where the source code can be studied and modified with no or few restrictions. Any changes made to an open source program are meant to be shared with others. Linux is an example of an open source program. See Adware, Freeware, and Shareware.

Overwriting infector

A type of file-infecting virus that erases part of a file while infecting it.

Packet sniffer

A program that surreptitiously captures information flowing through the Internet. Often used to intercept credit card numbers and passwords.

Parasitic infector

A type of file-infecting virus that attaches itself to the beginning or end of a file.

Parental control software

Programs that block access to certain Internet resources (such as websites or FTP sites) that may contain adult-oriented material. Can also filter email or chat rooms, and control access to certain programs stored on the computer. See Censorware.

Partition table

The part of a hard disk's boot sector that defines the size and partition of the hard disk, the operating system each partition uses, and the partition the computer uses to boot from.

Patch

A program designed to correct a flaw or bug in a program. See Service pack.

PGP

(Pretty Good Privacy) One of the most popular and effective encryption programs used on the Internet. See Encryption.

Phishing

To trick or fool chat room attendees into revealing their passwords, credit card numbers, or other valuable information. Often a special feature provided in an online harassment program. See Online harassment program.

Phone call flooding

Dialing a single phone number over and over again. Often used to harass a specific company or individual, such as a company or individual that sent unwanted email. See Fax bombing.

Phreaking

Manipulating the phone system.

Pirated software

Illegally copied software. Check any computer in any organization, and you'll probably find at least one pirated program somewhere.

Polymorphic virus

A virus that modifies itself each time it spreads in order to avoid detection by antivirus scanners. See Mutation engine.

Ponzi scheme

A con game where early investors receive their money when others invest money into the scheme. Similar to Social Security. See Pyramid scheme.

Pop-up/under ads

Advertisements that appear on your screen when you're browsing the Internet. Pop-up ads cover the web page that you're viewing while pop-under ads hide and only appear when you close your browser window.

Port

An "opening" in your computer used to send and receive data. When a computer connects to the Internet, it opens several ports, where each port performs a specific function, such as sending and receiving web pages or email. See Scanner.

Private-key encryption

Method of encrypting and decrypting data that uses a single key. See Public-key encryption.

Program infector

A virus that infects program files, such as word processors or spreadsheets.

Public-key encryption

Method of encrypting and decrypting data that uses two separate keys: a private key (known only to one person) and a public key that anyone can use. Data encrypted with one key can only be decrypted using the other. See Private-key encryption.

Pyramid scheme

A con game where one person receives money from two or more other people in exchange for the promise that they can make money if they recruit others to give them money too.