Words & their meanings

ActiveX

ActiveX Controls from Microsoft are a method of running programs, called scripts, either on the server or on the user’s Windows-based computer, as a response to accessing a Web site. Because ActiveX scripts can be run on the user’s computer, they can be easily used by those with malicious intent to deliver viruses, hostile programs, or simply to acquire information that has been stored on your computer, such as your e-mail address, information about your internet connection, what kind of machine or programs you are using, and so on. An ActiveX control, unlike a Java applet, has no limitations on what it can do, so it has much greater privacy implications.

Bandwidth

The information-carrying capacity of a network connection. Usually measured in bits per second (bps); a typical modem line carries 56,000 bits per second (56kbps), a typical large Web site has a T3 line, with 45 million bps (45Mbps), while a few ultra-high-end trunk lines carry up to 6 billion bps (6Gbps).

Computer fraud

Computer-related crimes involving deliberate misrepresentation, alteration, or disclosure of data to obtain something of value, usually for monetary gain.

Cookie

Pieces of text placed in a file or files on your computer’s hard drive by a Web site you’ve visited. Some cookies (called “persistend cookies”) may be used to identify you the next time you access the site by storing your password for you. Others may store information about the contents of your shopping cart. Cookies cannot identify an individual user specifically unless the cookie data is attached to personally identifiable information collected some other way, such as via an online registration form. Cookie data may include such information as a credit card number, the particular size or weight of a part ordered, or a password.