2011

Events
An action or occurrence detected by a program. Events can be user actions,
such as clicking a mouse button or pressing a key, or system occurrences, such
as running out of memory.
False positive
Occurs when a scanner identifies a file as infected when in fact it is not.
Filename extension
The portion of a filename, following the final point, which indicates the kind of
data stored in the file.
Many operating systems use filename extensions, e.g. Unix, VMS, and MS-DOS.
They are usually from one to three letters (some sad old OSes support no more
than three). Examples include "c" for C source code, "ps" for PostScript, "txt"
for arbitrary text.
Heuristic
A rule-based method of identifying new viruses. This method of scanning does
not rely on specific virus signatures. The advantage of the heuristic scan is that
it is not fooled by a new variant of an existing virus. However, it might
occasionally report suspicious code in normal programs, generating the so-called
"false positive".
IP
Internet Protocol - A routable protocol in the TCP/IP protocol suite that is
responsible for IP addressing, routing, and the fragmentation and reassembly
of IP packets.
Java applet
A Java program which is designed to run only on a web page. To use an applet
on a web page, you would specify the name of the applet and the size (length
and width, in pixels) that the applet can utilize. When the web page is accessed,
the browser downloads the applet from a server and runs it on the user's
machine (the client). Applets differ from applications in that they are governed
by a strict security protocol.
For example, even though applets run on the client, they cannot read or write
data onto the client's machine. Additionally, applets are further restricted so
that they can only read and write data from the same domain that they are
served from.
Macro virus
A type of computer virus that is encoded as a macro embedded in a document.
Many applications, such as Microsoft Word and Excel, support powerful macro
languages.
Glossary
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