Internet security

Internet security

Definitions for common terms and phrases related to security threats, vulnerabilities, and technology.

Contributors in Internet security

Internet security

A programme or code segment written in the application's internal macro language. Some macro viruses replicate or spread; others simply modify documents or other files on the user's machine without ...

Centralised alerting system

Internet; Internet security

A system that distributes alert notifications to multiple network users. McAfee Alert Manager is one example. Anti-virus software (such as McAfee VirusScan) generates alert messages that are saved ...

False negative

Internet; Internet security

A false negative error occurs when anti-virus software fails to indicate that an infected file is infected. False negatives are more serious than false positives, although both are undesirable. ...

Network intrusion prevention system (NIPS)

Internet; Internet security

Software or a device that monitors network traffic and prevents attacks on a network or system. McAfee Network Security Platform (formerly McAfee IntruShield) is one example.

Low-risk process

Internet; Internet security

A type of process that is considered to have a lower possibility of being infected or accessing infected files. Examples include backing up software or code compiler and linker processes.

Overwriting virus

Internet; Internet security

A virus that overwrites files with its own viral code, destroying the original. There is no way to recover the data from such an infection except to retrieve the files from backups.

Infection length

Internet; Internet security

The size, in bytes, of the viral code inserted into a programme by the virus. If this is a worm or Trojan, the length represents the size of the file.