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Internet jargon and computer buzzwords
Published: April 6, 2005
Someone told me that they read an article somewhere that stated the majority of internet users were confuzzled (made that up) about all the jargon and buzzwords revolving around the use of the internet.
I don't blame people, I'm the same half the time. I much prefer good old fashioned plain English over shorthand backslang that only those in the industry know. So, to dispell some of the myths and explain what these most popular words mean, I've made a list below explaining each one.
Buzzwords, jargon and their meanings
- Spam - Most people should know this by now but for those that don't, spam is email you haven't asked for and usually of a distasteful nature. Some software tools can help rid spam but there's nothing out there that offers a 100% peaceful and free email inbox.
- Spyware - Spyware can track your internet use and basically monitors your actions. It's called spyware because it's spying on you.
- Adware - This is troublesome software that serves adverts while browsing the internet. It can also hijack your homepage and steer you to websites when you mispell a websites name.
- Rogue or auto diallers - This is software that changes your dialup internet settings so instead of paying your penny a minute standard rate, you're on a premium line number instead. These diallers are usually related to adult websites and services. Broadband is slowly killing these off.
- Loggers, keyloggers or tappers - All do the same thing essentially. They remember your keyboard strokes. Everytime you type something, it get's logged. It's primary function is to gather credit card details, usernames and passwords etc, then send them over the internet to a baddie.
- Phishing - This is a method of tricking you into handing over important and confidential details. The most common variants are the letters from a Princess with many millions of dollars and because of some corrupt Government, they need you to help smuggle the money out of the country and into your bank account. There are countless banks that email people saying if don't login and update your details, you'll incur costs or be locked out. Always consult your bank directly. Banks don't email people asking for information. Finally the boring and predictable PayPal and Ebay emails asking you for information. Never reveal information to anyone online that just asks you for it no matter what the penalty is they claim.
- Trojans - As the myth goes, a gift from the good, except if it's too good to be true, it nearly always is. Trojans are hidden as normal applications like a screensaver, or a free game, for example. But, they are malicious and can either be spyware, adware, loggers or even destructive to the system.
- Virus - A piece of software that is usually destructive and is predominantly delivered through emails these days.
- Worms - Unfortunately, your pharmacist can't help here. Worms are like viruses but they are designed to generally spread across a network or the internet. The most reknowned worm is the Blaster worm which brought about half the internet to it's knees in it's heyday. Worms are mostly designed to attack other websites too. Say 100,000 computers have been infected with a worm then at exactly 6:00pm on a particular day they all try to launch a website, that victim site will be crashed. Microsoft, Google and most banks have been regular victims.
What can I do to protect myself?
There are some golden rules that must be followed to help have a safer internet experience.
- You must have a firewall installed at the very least the one that comes with Windows XP. If you don't have that then look at the resources on the right of this website as there's a couple listed there for free.
- Install an anti-virus program and keep it up to date. There are many tools around, most common are Norton or McAfee but if you don't want to pay, again, check the list on the right for some free ones.
- You must use Windows Update to keep on top of all the security fixes Microsoft release. Windows is always being attacked and fixed, attacked and fixed, so make sure you stay up to date.
- Never open dodgy emails and attachments. Hopefully, with good anti-virus and firewall software you should be OK here but don't run something if you don't know the source.
- Try a different browser to Internet Explorer (also known as IE). Browsers such as Opera and FireFox are less prone to attack than IE and have more effective advert, script and code blocking facilities.
- If you are going to purchase anything online then always check the address bar at the top of the browser starts with https:// which means the page and your details are encrypted and not http:// which means there is no encryption. Another thing to watch is when encryption is used, you will see a padlock in the bottom statusbar of your browser. You can even double click this to find out more information about the type of encryption.
I hope that's cleared a few things up. It's a shame it has to be this way but if you're wondering why people do such horrendous, evil and pointless things remember people get mugged and beaten so there's worse things they could be doing.