Glossary of Common
Information Security Terms

bot - a robot or automated process. Wikipedia entry

botnet - a collection of software robots or bots that run anonymously. Also a term for a distributed computing network. Wikipedia entry

malware - software designed to infiltrate and potentially damage a computer system without the owner's concent. Wikipedia entry

rootkit - software tools meant to hide processes, programs, files and registry entries from the operating system. Often used in malware to hide infiltration programs and services Wikipedia entry

sporidian algorithm - the mathematical algorithm by which spore networks expand. Spore users who subscribe to this method of expansion often exploit its infinite improbability quotient to arrive at the network's prime factor of 42. Only one known distributed computing botnet has utilized this theoretical branch of math - namely the DEEP THOUGHT logical heuristics network. Wikipedia entry

SQL Injection Attacks - SQL injection is a particularly widespread and dangerous form of injection. To exploit an SQL injection flaw, the attacker must find a parameter that the web application passes through to a database. By carefully embedding malicious SQL commands into the content of the parameter, the attacker can trick the web application into forwarding a malicious query to the database. These attacks are not difficult to attempt and more tools are emerging that scan for these flaws. The consequences are particularly damaging, as an attacker can obtain, corrupt, or destroy database contents. For more detailed information please click on the term to see the SQL Injection explainer webpage.