AP Comp. Sci. Cyber Security Vocab

cybersecurity

Use of techniques or skills to protect data, networks, and systems from attacks

phishing

a technique that attempts to trick a user into providing personal information. That personal information can then be used to access sensitive online resources, such as bank accounts and emails.

keylogging

the use of a program to record every keystroke made by a computer user in order to gain fraudulent access to passwords and other confidential information

malware

software intended to damage a computing system or to take partial control over its operation (short for malicious software)

rogue access point

a wireless access point that gives unauthorized access to secure networks

multi factor authentication

requires more than one distinct authentication factor for successful authentication

HTTP: hypertext transfer protocol

the protocol used for transmitting web pages over the Internet. Send “get requests” to worldwide servers for websites and HTML code is sent in response

computer virus scanning software (anti-virus software)

protects a computing system against infection

encryption

 a process of encoding messages to keep them secret, so only "authorized" parties can read it.

decryption

a process that reverses encryption, taking a secret message and reproducing the original plain text

cipher

the generic term for a technique (or algorithm) that performs encryption

caesar’s cipher

a technique for encryption that shifts the alphabet by some number of characters

cracking encryption

When you attempt to decode a secret message without knowing all the specifics of the cipher

symmetric encryption

involves one key for both encryption and decryption

asymmetric encryption (public key encryption)

pairs a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. The sender does not need the receiver’s private key to encrypt a message, but the receiver’s private key is required to decrypt the message

certificate authority

is an organization that acts to validate the identities of entities and binds them to cryptographic keys through the issuance of electronic documents known as digital certificates

digital certificate

an electronic document that is tied to a cryptographic key pair and authenticates the identity of a website, individual, organization, user, device or server

SSL (Secure Sockets Layers)

Uses encryption for transfer of data

TSL (Transport Layer Security)

encrypts data sent over the Internet to ensure that eavesdroppers and hackers are unable to see what you transmit. (Improved SSL)

protocol

is a well known set of rules and standards on how to handle the information

linear search

checks each element in the list until a target value is found

binary search

checks the midpoint value in the list and compares the target value to the midpoint value

lossless compression

a process for reducing the number of bits needed to represent something without losing any information. this process is reversible

lossy compression

A process for reducing the number of bits needed to represent something in which some information is lost or thrown away. This process is not reversible

metadata

data about data