This page contains a casual list of commonly used abbreviations in computerspeak, in rough order as I add to it as I go along.
DDOS == Denial of Service or Distributed Denial of Service. - A DOS attack can commonly result in a server being flooded with more network traffic than it is capable of processing. This hinders or prevents the server’s normal operation and sometimes causes its complete failure.
In a DDOS multiple PCs. coordinate the attack.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol that allows you to transfer files between two computers over the internet.
HASH/HASHING
A hash function is any well defined procedure or mathematical function that converts a large, possibly variable-sized amount of data into a small datum, that may serve as an index to an array.
HTTP and HTTPS
HTTP stands for "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol", the primary technology protocol on the Web that allows linking and browsing.
HTTPS is "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol" with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL see below), another protocol primarily developed with secure, safe Internet transactions in mind.
i2p, or more commonly called 12P
An anonymising network, peer to peer, that offers a simple layer that applications can use to anonymously and securely send messages.
TOR is a version of 12P, many think 12P is better. TOR relies on voluteers to donate their machines as servers but there are, or were, fewer servers than clients, and this can slow it down, whereas with 12P every client acts as a server.
However Tor can be used to access web sites outside the TOR net work anonymously. 12P doesn't really have this function.
LAN
A local area network - any group connection to the internet.
If you've got a router or a hub (which allow multiple computers to use the same internet connection, share printers and share documents) then you've got a LAN.
LOIC ("Low Orbit Ion Cannon") is an application developed by 4Chan-affiliated hackers designed to—when used en masse by thousands of anonymous users—launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on websites. Like Visa.com and Mastercard.com, for instance.
It's a pushbutton application...
The idea behind LOIC is that it can allow you to participate in attacks even if you've no clue how to hack. Just download a copy of LOIC (available for Windows, Mac, and Linux!), punch in the target information like a URL or an IP address and zap.
...that can be controlled by a central user...
The Windows version of LOIC has a "Hivemind" feature that lets you point your copy at an Internet Relay Chat server, allowing someone else—say, the Anon Admins behind Operation Payback, the campaign that is currently striking out against Visa, Mastercard, and other financial organizations in retaliation for their decision to stop doing business with Wikileaks—to control at what site all connected LOIC clients are aimed. And because it takes thousands of LOICs all pointed at a single site to make a real impact, letting a central administrator press the big button of website destruction makes the whole network more effective.
Giving hackers control of your computer by choice? Sounds dangerous. But because the LOIC client is open source, the chances that a virus or backdoor into a user's own system could be a hidden payload is minimal.
OVH
An offshore budget French server and web hosting provider, started up 1998, with server based in Roubaix. http://www.ovh.net/
PING
ping means to attract the attention of or check for the presence of another party online.
FTP (File transfer protocol, see above) is used to send files to the host you have pinged.
PDF
Portable Document Format. For document exchange, a universal file format by Adobe that keeps fonts, formats, graphics and colour of any document, regardless of the application or platform that created it.
You can download Adobe Acrobat free.
It's said that using PDF might also reveal hidden info, with a bit of probing. NASA etc warn about sanitizing Word to PDF conversions.
SECURE SOCKET LAYERS
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. It ensures all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. SSL is an industry standard and is used by millions of websites in the protection of their online transactions with their customers.
SMS
Short Message Service - in an word TEXTING - method by which text messages can be sent from cell phone to cell phone, and sometimes from landlines.
Portable Document Format. For document exchange, a universal file format by Adobe that keeps fonts, formats, graphics and colour of any document, regardless of the application or platform that created it.
You can download Adobe Acrobat free.
It's said that using PDF might also reveal hidden info, with a bit of probing. NASA etc warn about sanitizing Word to PDF conversions.
SECURE SOCKET LAYERS
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. It ensures all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. SSL is an industry standard and is used by millions of websites in the protection of their online transactions with their customers.
SMS
Short Message Service - in an word TEXTING - method by which text messages can be sent from cell phone to cell phone, and sometimes from landlines.
TCP/IP
TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. It is a set of network protocols, which enable the computers over a network to communicate with each other.
TCP operates on the transport layer of the Internet protocol suite and provides the network computers with reliable communication facilities. Email and file transfer are the common applications of TCP.
IP, short for Internet Protocol, is a networking protocol used for communicating data over a packet-switched network. It operates on the Internet layer of the protocol suite and facilitates the delivery of datagrams based on the IP addresses of the network hosts.
TCP/IP protocol suite is the core of communication and computing over the Internet.
TOR
How Tor works (for web surfing):
- enter a URL in your address bar and hit ENTER.
- At this point your browser would issue an HTTP request for that URL over the Internet. But the connection redirected through Tor instead.
- Tor was building circuits in the background, and exchanging keys between nodes so communication between them can be encrypted. A circuit consists of three or more Tor nodes worldwide.
- Your Tor client sends this request to the first Tor node in the circuit. The request is encrypted and padded so your ISP can't read the request in transit.
- It is then bounced to subsequent nodes in the circuit.
- Finally the request comes to the end of the circuit, or the exit node. It's then decrypted, unpadded, and sent to it's normal, intended Internet destination. The source of this request appears to be the exit node computer, not yours.
- This is where a security vulnerability is. The exit node computer decrypts your packet and can sniff it before shipping it to it's intended destination. So you still need to use HTTPS if you don't want the exit node to know what you are doing. It's possible for a person who runs a Tor exit node to snag your email passwords on the way out, for example.
- Also, if your web request has identifying information such as cookies, etc. it's possible for a person who runs a Tor exit node to snag that too. HTTPS, buddy.
- The Tor client rebuilds circuits every 10 minutes, to fight traffic analysis.
HOW TO ENCRYPT A FILE
Encryption is built around complex algorithms that have been developed by various authors and go by names like Blowfish, Twofish, Serpent and Rijndael to name a scant few. These encryption programs use a single password to encrypt and decrypt data, folders, and even entire disks. Other types of encryption referred to as “public encryption,” use one key for encryption and another for decryption, where only the latter key need be private. This method is used to privatize email and instant messaging.
There are many open-source, free encryption programs available that make it truly easy to encrypt files. Most of these programs add a shortcut to context menus. A context menu is the menu that pops up when you right-click on a file. By placing a shortcut here, you can encrypt files by simply right-clicking on the file and selecting the encryption program. You'll be prompted for a password and the file will be encrypted to this key. If this password is forgotten, the file will not be able to be decrypted later.
When you encrypt files, the last three letters of the file or the extension will change according to the software. For example, when using Pretty Good Privacy® (PGP) to encrypt a Microsoft® Word® document, the file becomes filename.doc.pgp. If you try to open the encrypted file by double-clicking, you will be prompted for the password that was used to encrypt it. If you encrypt files more than occasionally, you might consider keeping all sensitive files in a single folder and encrypting the folder instead.
VPN = Virtual Private Network
Feature of a VPN is its ability to work over both private networks as well as public networks like the Internet. Using a method called tunneling, a VPN use the same hardware infrastructure as existing Internet or intranet links.
Specifically, a VPN supports at least three different modes of use:
Internet remote access client connections
LAN-to-LAN internetworking (LAN see above, local area network).
Controlled access within an intranet
