Navigation: Previous Page | Contents | Next Page

Glossary

Chat room  An area on the Internet where users can communicate in real time.

Cryptography  Encrypting of data so that it is unintelligible.

Cybercrime Criminal activity which uses or takes place through communications technology, including the Internet, telephony and wireless technology.

Hacking Unauthorised access to computer data.

Internet A facility which allows computers to be linked via an international network.

ISP  Internet Service Provider – also called Internet Access Providers. (IAPs): a business which sells a service enabling subscribers to use the Internet.  The  provider’s service  includes providing software and a phone number.  The client also selects a password which allows access to the service.  The ISP provides a portal through which all of the client’s internet traffic is visible to the ISP.  ISPs themselves are connected to one another through Network Access Points (NAPs).  

ICH Internet Content Hosts:  persons who host Internet content in Australia, or who propose to host Internet content in Australia. Examples include a web farm such as Webcentral or a person who has their own website or server and hosts content provided by a range of contributors. (Source: Internet Industry Association Website at http://www.iia.net.au).

Payload. In communications and information science, a payload is a set of data, such as a data field, block, or stream, being processed or transported, the part that represents user information and user overhead information, and may include user-requested additional information, such as network management and accounting information. (Wiki pedia: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload).

SPAM  unwanted commercial bulk messages randomly sent to email addresses.

Steganography  A process in which illegal data is contained in seemingly innocuous files, such as photographs, which can then be reworked at the destination so as to allow access to the illegal data.

Trojan Trojans are malicious stand alone programs, often sent via an email attachment which, when opened alters or deletes files on the machine, or access emails. It does not replicate nor send itself to other machines.

URL Universal Resource Locator: the address of a website.

Virus  A piece of program code. Like a biological virus it copies itself and then attaches to a “host”- another computer program - which can then transfer the virus to other computers, damaging all in its wake.  Viruses can be destructive by altering files or erasing information from disks.  More seriously they can allow others to gain access to a person’s computer without authorisation.

Worms  A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program, which unlike the virus does not need to attach itself to another program in order to propagate itself.  A worm can delete files, or send email documents. 

Navigation: Previous Page | Contents | Next Page