Encryption, Cryptography and Security Glossary of Terms
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Advanced Encryption StandardFor the past three years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been working to develop a new encryption standard to keep government information secure. The Gaithersburg, Md.-based organization is in the final stages of an open process of selecting one or more algorithms, or data-scrambling formulas, for the new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and plans to make a decision by late summer or early fall. The standard is slated to go into effect next year. AlgorithmA specific mathematical recipe, in this case, for encryption and decryption. Different algorithms have different properties: some are more secure than others, some are faster than others. Of course, each is incompatible with all the others. ASCIIASCII is an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a 7-bit code that represents the most basic letters of the Roman alphabet, numbers, and other characters used in computing. ASCII characters allow us to communicate with computers, which use their own language called binary made up of 0s and 1s. When we type ASCII characters from the keyboard (which looks like words to us), the computer interprets them as binary so they can be read, manipulated, stored and retrieved. ASCII files are called text files.Binary FileA binary file, unlike an ASCII file, contains more than plain text. It may contain additional code information for photos, sounds, a spreadsheet, or formatted word-processing text. Like an ASCII file, a binary file is made up of machine-readable symbols that represent 1s and 0s. Binary files include sound files, graphics files, and software, and are frequently called binaries. If you want to transmit a file over the Internet, such as downloading a piece of software, a sound or picture file, or a formatted word-processing document, choose the "binary" option. If the file is simply unformatted text, choose the "ASCII" or "text" option. BitShort for binary digit, a bit is the smallest unit of data a computer can handle. Bits are used in various combinations to represent different kinds of data. Each bit has a value of 0 or 1. ByteA byte is a series of bits of a particular length, usually 8. Computer storage space is measured in bytes. A Kilobyte (or 1 K) represents 1024 bytes and a Megabyte (1 Mb) represents one thousand "K" bytes, or one million bytes. Computer VirusA computer virus is a program created specifically to invade computers and networks and wreak havoc on them. The mischief caused can be very minor, such as causing a funny image or cryptic message to be displayed on your screen, or it can do some serious damage by altering or even destroying files. CryptographyThe process of securing private information that is passed through public networks by mathematically scrambling (encrypting) it in a way that makes it unreadable to anyone except the person or persons holding the mathematical "key" that can unscramble (decrypt) it. The two most common types of cryptography are "same-key" and "public-key." In same-key cryptography, a message is encrypted and decrypted using the same key, which is passed along from one party to another in a separate transmission. A more secure method is public-key cryptography which uses a pair of different keys (one public, one private) that have a particular relationship to one another, such that any message encrypted with one key can only be decrypted with the other key and vice-versa. FirewallsA firewall consists of hardware and/or software that lies between two networks, such as an internal network and an Internet service provider. The firewall protects your network by blocking unwanted users from gaining access and by disallowing messages to specific recipients outside the network, such as competitors. EncryptionEncryption is a method to make E-mail messages, data files and electronic-commerce transactions secure. Encoded blocks of data, called keys, are used to lock the message from outside view when it's traveling across the Internet. When it gets to the recipient, that recipient also must use a special key that can unlock the message. Previously, the U.S. government used a 56-bit block of data for its encryption standard, but because computers are getting so much faster and better at breaking codes, 128-bit blocks of data nowhere being used as the new standard. Digital CertificatesDigital certificates are issued by a trusted third party known as a certification authority (CA). The CA validates the identity of a certificate holder and "signs" the certificate to attest that it hasn't been forged or altered in any way. HackerHacker is a slang term for a technically sophisticated computer user who enjoys exploring computer systems and programs, sometimes to the point of obsession. Internet Protocol SecurityInternet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a suite of protocols used for secure private communications over the Internet. The proposed suite of IPsec protocols would create a standard platform for securing IP connections on private networks. KeyA special piece of data used for encryption and/or decryption. Due to modern encryption automation, keys are not human readable and typically look like alphanumeric gibberish to humans. A computerized random number generator chooses the bits of the key in such a way that it cannot be predicted. A typical public key:
ParsingParsing data refers to the process by which programming data input is broken into smaller, more distinct chunks of information that can be more easily interpreted and acted upon. Symmetric EncryptionAny encryption scheme where the sender and receiver share the same key. Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses and ZombiesMalicious software: Any software written to cause damage to or use up the resources of a target computer. Malicious software is frequently concealed within or masquerades as legitimate software. In some cases, it spreads itself to other computers via e-mail or infected floppy disks. Types of malicious software include viruses, Trojan horses, worms and hidden software for launching denial-of-service attacks.
Sources http://library.thinkquest.org/27158/history.html?tqskip1=1&tqtime=1121 |
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