AntivirusGolden Glossary

	Adware Software that downloads and displays advertisements. This type of software is often bundled with 'freeware'. The software end user license agreement may say that by installing the software you agree to accept advertising.
	Browser Helper Object (BHO) Can search all pages you view in Internet Explorer and replace banner advertisements with targeted advertisements, monitor and report on your actions, and change your homepage.
	Denial-of-Service Attack An attack on a computer system intended to reduce, or entirely block, the level of service that 'legitimate clients' can receive from that system. These range in scope from network bandwidth wasting and/or swamping through exhausting various machine resources (memory, disk space, thread or process handles, etc) required by the process(es) providing the service. They usually work by exploiting vulnerabilities that eventually crash the service process or the underlying system. Although not commonly associated with viruses, denial-of-service components are included in some viral payload routines.
	Dialer Software that dials a phone number. Some dialers connect to local Internet Service Providers and are beneficial as configured. Others connect to toll numbers without user awareness or permission.
	Error Hijacker Any software that resets your browser's settings to display a new error page when a requested URL is not found. Hijackers may re-route your information and address requests through an unseen site, capturing that information. In such hijacks, your browser may behave normally, but be slower.
	Hijacker Any software that resets your browser's settings to point to other sites. Hijackers may re-route your information and address requests through an unseen site, capturing that information. In such hijacks, your browser may behave normally, but be slower.
	Homepage Hijacker Any software that changes your browser's homepage to a different site. Hijackers may re-route your information and address requests through an unseen site, capturing that information. In such hijacks, your browser may behave normally, but be slower.
	Keylogger Any program that records keystrokes. The term tends to be mainly used for programs that surreptitiously record keystrokes and then make the log of keyboard activity available to someone other than the logged user(s). Commonly these log files are emailed to the person who planted the logging software, but on public access machines (in cyber-cafes, school and university computer labs, etc .) that level of sophistication is not necessary as the 'attacker' can simply access the log file from the compromised machine at a later date, revealing usernames and passwords for accessing other systems and other potentially sensitive information. Although more common in Trojan Horse programs and Remote Access Trojans, keyloggers are sometimes used in the payloads of viruses.
	Malware Malicious software. A catch-all term for 'programs that do bad or unwanted things'. Generally, viruses, worms and Trojans will all be classed as malware, but several other types of programs may also be included under the term.
	P2P Any peer-to-peer file swapping program, such as Audiogalaxy, Bearshare, Blubster, E-Mule, Gnucleus, Grokster, Imesh, KaZaa, KaZaa Lite, Limewire, Morpheus, Shareaza, WinMX and Xolox. Can degrade system performance and consume vast amounts of storage. May create security issues as outsiders are granted access to internal files. Often bundled with adware or spyware.
	Password Cracker A tool to decrypt a password or password file. Password crackers have legitimate uses by security administrators, who want to find weak passwords in order to change them and improve system security, but can be used maliciously.
	Remote Administration Tool There are legitimate remote administration tools included with many network management products, with helpdesk and other support software. These are installed with the system administrator's knowledge and consent (although not necessarily with that of the end-user s). Many programs that are clearly designed to spy on unsuspecting users are referred to as 'remote administration tools' in an attempt (usually by their writers, resellers, agents, etc) to legitimize them. These tools usually have 'silent' installation modes and such ‘useful ’ administration functions have as the ability to repeatedly open and close the CD-ROM tray of the 'administered' machine.
	Remote Access Trojan A program that surreptitiously allows access to a computer's resources (files, network connections, configuration information, etc) via a network connection. Legitimate programs used by system administrators or helpdesk support are useful and necessary in a corporate environment. However, in the wrong hands, it gives someone complete control over your PC, as if they were at your keyboard.
	Search Hijacker Any software that resets your browser's settings to point to other sites when you perform a search. Hijacks may re-route your information and address requests through an unseen site, capturing that information. In such hijacks, your browser may behave normally, but be slower. In addition, search results when such a hijacker is running will sometimes differ from non-hijacked results.
	Spyware Cookie Any c ookie that is shared among two or more unrelated websites for the purpose of gathering and sharing private user information.
	Spyware A program that gathers information and can be 'silently' installed and run in 'stealth' mode. This kind of software is used to gather information from a user's machine, such as recorded keystrokes (passwords), a list of websites visited by the user, applications installed on the machine, the version of operating system, registry settings, etc.
	Tracking Cookie Any cookie that is shared among two or more web pages for the purpose of tracking a user's surfing history.