Glossary

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acceptable use policy

A policy that describes the appropriate and inappropriate behavior of users on a system, spelling out the rights and responsibilities of all parties involved.

access

The method by which a user is able to utilize an information resource.

access control

The physical or logical safeguards that prevent unauthorized access to information resources

access control list (ACL)

A method of discretionary access that utilizes a list of users and permissions to determine access rights to a resource.

accountability

The ability to associate users with their actions.

accuracy

The quality of information which is dependent on the quality of the source of the information and the quality of the handling of the information.

administration

The process of managing and maintaining the information systems.

ARP ” address resolution protocol

A protocol for translating between IP addresses and MAC-layer addresses in an Ethernet. It was defined in RFC 826.

ArpaNet ” Advanced Research Project Administration Network.

A U.S. Department of Defense project designed as a redundant wide area network (WAN) capable of surviving a nuclear war. It was a precursor of the Internet.

attacker

A person who attempts to penetrate a computer system's security controls.

authentication

The process of correctly identifying a user as the person he presents himself to be.

authorization

A capability assigned to a user account by administrators that allows the user certain privileges. A privilege allows you to perform an action; an authorization gives you privileges.

availability

The ability of a resource to be utilized..

awareness

The process of educating users on the use of information security features, their importance, and how to spot and report misuse.

back door

An undocumented software feature that allows a user to gain access or privileges through its use. These features may be a software bug or something that was added by a programmer during development that was not removed when it was put into production. Generally back doors are put into the system by hackers to help facilitate their hacking.

BSD ” Berkeley Software Distribution

The major UNIX variant created at the University of California at Berkeley.

business impact analysis

An evaluation of the business ramifications to the organization caused by a security incident.

business resumption program

A plan designed to minimize the unavailability of business processes.

cache

A small area of memory or disk holding recently accessed data, designed to speed up further access.

Caller ID

A method of identifying the source of incoming telephone communications.

change management

The process of controlling and tracking the modifications made to a system.

checksum

A mathematical algorithm that creates a unique numerical value for a unique input, used to validate the contents of a file.

client

A process that uses the resources of a server.

client / server

A computing model that divides the processing requirements between both the user's computer (the client) and the host (the server system.)

Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

The first comprehensive federal anti-hacking law, passed in 1986. It primarily protects the computers of the U.S. government.

confidentiality

The requirement to preserve the secrecy or privacy of information, so that only those authorized to have knowledge of it actually do so.

connection hiding

A process that removes evidence of a user's access to a system.

connection laundering

A process of connecting into and then out of a system so that the actual origin of the connection is unavailable from the target system.

data diddling

False data entry, changing data before or during their input into a system.

daemon

A process running in the background performing some service for other programs.

denial of services

A type of hacker attack which makes it difficult for valid users to access the computer.

dialback

A method by which a system is set up to call back the number from which an incoming call was placed.

dial-up security

A UNIX security feature which asks the user for two passwords: first, the user's password and second, a password based on the user's default shell. Although referred to as dial-up, it can be applied to any terminal or modem port on a port-by-port basis.

digital signature

A cryptographic means of uniquely identifying the sender of a message that can be used by the recipient to confirm the authenticity of the message. It is often implemented as a variation of public key cryptography.

discretionary access control

An access control in which an "owner" of a resource can define who else can access the resource. Usually, there are no restrictions on to whom the owner can grant access or the kind of access granted. The traditional UNIX mode bits and the access control lists are examples of discretionary access control.

DNS ” Domain Name Services

A hierarchical naming system that allows each domain or subdomain to be divided into smaller subdomains, thereby requiring that a system name be unique only within its specific subdomain.

due care

The assurance that all reasonable and prudent precautions have been taken in the handling of a company's resources.

dumpster diving

The process of scavenging through materials that have been thrown away in order to find information.

e-mail

A means of exchanging messages through a network. E-mail can include attachments which can contain images, sounds, and programs ” any electronic data.

encryption

The process of mathematically converting information into a form such that the original information cannot be restored without the use of a specific unique key.

fail over system

A secondary system which will assume the roles of the primary system in the event of a failure.

finger

A UNIX command that provides information about users, and can also be used to retrieve the .plan and .project files from a user's home directory.

firewall

A firewall is used on some networks to provide added security by blocking access to certain services in the private network from the public network.

FTP ” File Transfer Protocol

A protocol used to transfer files between systems over a network.

GECOS

The personal information field in the UNIX password file. Originally added to the password file to facilitate print spooling from some early UNIX systems at Bell Labs to Honeywell GCOS machines.

group

A collection of users to which common authorizations can be assigned.

hackers

People who exploit known vulnerabilities in security systems. Hackers can range from students hacking for fun and intellectual challenge to professionals paid to break into systems for a specific reason.

identification

The process of presenting an identifier to an information system.

identifier

That which is used to uniquely represent a specific user.

IETF ” Internet Engineering Task Force

The protocol engineering and development arm of the Internet.

in- band configuration

The use of the same connection to manage a device as the connection that the device controls.

information resource

Any of the processes or systems that contain, process, or utilize information and the information itself.

info -terrorism

An act of terrorism that is carried out through the use of computer systems.

integrity

The assurance of accuracy, completeness, and performance according to specifications.

internet

A group of interconnected networks. These networks can be private or public networks and need not be connected to the Internet.

Internet

A loose confederation of networks around the world that grew out of the U.S. Government ARPAnet project, and is specifically designed to have no central governing authority. The networks that make up the Internet are connected through several backbone networks. The primary domains of the Internet are com, net, mil, edu, gov, and org (which refer to commercial, network, military, education, government, and organization) and all of the 2-character country identifiers.

internet daemon

The primary daemon that controls communication over the network.

Internet time

An expression that reflects that time moves faster on the Internet. Due to the limited costs of entry, business can rapidly appear on the Internet and can rapidly change their tactics, so survival depends on the ability to react and change.

IP ” internet protocol

A network protocol that uses internet addressing to route packets.

IP addressing

A hierarchical methodology of assigning unique addresses to all the systems attached to an internet. The first part of the address is a network address, the last part is the system address.

IP routing

The process of deciding where to send a message based on the IP address.

IP spoofing

The process of falsifying address information in a network packet to cause it to be misrouted, e.g., a hacker sends messages to a computer with an IP address indicating that the message is coming from a trusted source.

Kerberos

A process of providing secure authentication by use of a trusted third party.

LAN ” Local Area Network

A network usually contained within one or more buildings , as opposed to a WAN.

least privilege

The security philosophy of granting the minimum privileges for the minimum amount of time to allow the user to complete the required task.

logic bomb

Code hidden in an application that causes it to perform some destructive activity when specific criteria are met.

login spoof

A program that pretends to be the login program so that it can capture login IDs and passwords.

MAC Address

The low-level address assigned to a device on an ethernet. MAC addresses are translated to IP addresses via ARP.

magic cookie

A piece of information passed between programs which serves as an identifier to allow the user to perform a given operation.

mandatory access control

An access control in which access is based on criteria defined by system administrators, and not generally definable by the users of a data object.

masquerading

One person uses the identity of another to gain access to a computer.

MIME ” Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions

A protocol for sending sound, graphics, and other binary data as attachments to mail messages.

mirrored disks

The complete replication of information onto multiple disks to increase availability in case of a hardware failure.

modem

Shorthand for MODulator/DEModulator. A modem allows the transmission of digital information over an analog phone line.

NTP ” Network Time Protocol

A network protocol used to synchronize computer system clocks.

newsgroup

A message area in Usenet News. Each newsgroup can be either " moderated ," with only postings approved by a moderator publicly posted, or " unmoderated ," where all messages are distributed to the newsgroup immediately.

NFS ” Network File System

One method of sharing files across a LAN or through the Internet.

NNTP ” Network News Transfer Protocol

A system for reading and writing Usenet News articles across a network. This service is defined by RFC number 977.

Orange Book (TCSEC)

A U.S. Department of Defense standard that has become the principal criterion for the design of highly secure computer operating systems. The TCSEC is not a software specification, but rather a criterion intended to guide a team of evaluators in affixing a "security grade" to a particular computer system. In the order of increasing complexity, these grades are: C1, C2, B1, B2, B3, and A1. It is often called the "Orange Book" because its cover is orange. The National Computer Security Center performs evaluations under TCSEC and issues companion books that apply to other security areas, such as networking.

out-of-band configuration

The use of a communication path to configure a network device which is not the communication path that the network device controls.

parasite

Software that attaches itself to a program to utilize the resources of the host program.

password sniffing

The process of monitoring a network to obtain identification and authentication information.

permissions

Authorization attributes assigned to a resource that indicate what privileges are granted to which users.

phone phreak

A person who utilizes technology to illegally access the telephone system.

piggybacking

Following an authorized person through a locked door, either a physical one or a computer's security firewall.

PIN ” Personal Identification Number

A password that is used with a physical card, together producing stronger authentication.

policy

A written definition of a security standard.

practice

A specific performed activity that supports a security procedure.

privileges

The rights granted to a user that define what the user can do with the resource.

procedure

A specific activity that supports a security policy.

public key encryption

An cryptographic method that uses two keys so that whatever is encrypted with one key can be decrypted only with the other. It can be used for both security and digital signatures.

race condition

The condition where two or more processes require the same unique resource.

RAID disks

A method of distributing information across multiple disk drives to eliminate data loss from a single disk drive failure.

rainbow series

A group of government publications that detail processes and standards in computer security whose colorful covers have inspired this name.

redundancy

The use of multiple systems to minimize unavailability.

RFC (Request for Comments)

A broad range of notes covering a variety of topics related to the Internet. RFCs are handled by the IETF and are archived at several sites.

salami slicing

The process of accumulating partial cents , which are the result of rounding to a whole cent, into an account.

security by obscurity

The theory that if no one knows about a security flaw, then no one will abuse it, and if no one is told about the flaw, he will not find it on his own.

security perimeter

A border that defines what is, and what is not, controlled by a specific security policy.

set-user-on- exec ( setUID)

A UNIX file permission that indicates that the program will run as if it were run by the defined user.

set-group-on-exec ( setGID)

A UNIX file permission that indicates that the program will run with as if it were run by the defined group.

server

A process which provides information or other services to its clients . Most network protocols are client / server based.

shell

One of several command line interfaces available on UNIX machines. Some common shells include Bourne shell, ksh, and tcsh.

SLIP ” Serial Line Internet Protocol

A serial packet protocol used to connect a remote computer to the Internet using modems or direct serial lines. SLIP requires an Internet provider with special SLIP accounts.

smart card

A physical authentication device used in conjunction with a password to give greater assurance of authentication.

smart terminal

A terminal that has some local memory and processing that can be accessed programmatically.

SMTP ” Simple Mail Transport Protocol

A protocol which defines a common mechanism for exchanging mail across a network. This protocol is described in RFC number 821. Usually SMTP is incorporated in a mail transport agent.

snooper

A program that listens to a network to gather information.

social engineering

The process of gathering information from people by use of deception and obfuscation. Someone manipulates others into revealing information that can be used to steal data, such as telling a help desk to reset the password of a stolen ID.

software piracy

Duplicating computer programs in violation of copyright law.

spamming

Mass mailing of unsolicited e-mail messages.

spoof

A program that impersonates another program to gather information.

sticky bit

The UNIX permission bit set on a directory used to keep the program in memory after it completes, so that it will be ready for its next invocation. It is also used on directories to limit the ability to delete a file in the directory to the owner of the file.

superhacker

The possibly mythical hacker whose skill allows him to move freely from system to system and network to network without detection.

superuser

A user who is granted all authorizations. On UNIX systems, this user is generally called "root."

SYSV ” System V

A commercial version of UNIX from AT&T.

TCP ” Transmission Control Protocol

The networking protocol that controls packet synchronization.

TCP/IP ” Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

The networking standard commonly used on the Internet.

TFTP ” Trivial File Transfer Protocol

A network protocol that allows unauthenticated transfer of files.

threat

That which if unchecked will cause a loss to the organization.

trap doors

A quick way into a program, bypassing security.

Trojan horse

A program that appears to be a useful program, but in reality performs malicious acts.

trusted advisor

A hacker who used his position and knowledge to his advantage by appearing to be trustworthy.

trusted hosts

A process by which a group of hosts can share a single authentication, so that once a user is authenticated onto one host in the trusted group, he can access all the hosts without having to authenticate himself again.

Usenet News

A network of systems that exchange articles using the Internet, UUCP, and other methods to establish public message conferences on some or all of over 6,000 topics or "news groups."

user

Any entity that utilizes information resources. A user can be an individual, a software program, a computer system, a network, etc.

UUCP

An acronym for UNIX to UNIX CoPy, UUCP is a protocol used for the store-and-forward exchange of mail, Usenet News, and other files, usually over a modem.

virus

A program that replicates itself by embedding a copy of itself in other programs.

vulnerability

A weakness that can be utilized to gain an inappropriate level of access or privileges with an information resource.

WAN

Acronym for Wide Area Network, which is generally a network connecting several physically distant locations, as opposed to a LAN. The Internet is an example of a worldwide WAN.

Worm

A program that makes its way across a network, copying itself as it goes.

wrapper program

A program used to augment another program without requiring reconstruction of the original program.

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