Introduction to the antivirus protection - Antivirus protection glossary

In the following text we will give you an explanation of the basic terms you can meet in the world of malicious software.

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Update, Upgrade - In the terms of antivirus software it means the completion of a computer viruses database (update) or the antivirus scanner engine modernizing (upgrade).
Backdoor - Applications that "open" a computer (mostly without user's knowledge) for attackers - it concerns not only data stored on it, but also a way to future attacks.
Boot sector - A floppy disk boot sector or a hard disk boot sector. It consists of parts of a program code that can be modified - and some viruses abuse it for their spread (they abused it mainly in the past).
Worm - It is a malicious code that uses services of any network (local or global) for its spread. A computer virus needs host applications for its spread, whereas a worm is usually malicious by itself. (An exception are so-called companion viruses, that take names after exe files, but their extension is com. They exploit the fact that this extension is preferred by operating systems.)
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) - Advanced version of DoS in which the server is attacked from many places at the same time. This increases the chance of success.
Dialer - Malicious software that hides in web pages and is able to redirect the phone connection to commercial (mostly foreign) phone lines.
DoS (Denial of Service) - Type of a computer attack. Servers are overloaded by many requests (for example of displaying web pages). The server is unable to manage such amount and falls down.
Engine - An antivirus program core which detects viruses.
False alarm - Situation when an antivirus software makes a mistake and alerts to a non-existing danger.
Hacker - A person who hacks software in the world of information technology. Originally, hackers were people who changed computer programs in order to use them in a specific environment. In the course of time this term has got a different meaning and indicates all people who act illegally in the cyber world.
Heuristics - It is an analysis of a program code by an antivirus program that reveals unknown malicious codes based on suspicious sequences or commands.
Hoax - An e-mail message that is not based on truth. It warns against superdangerous viruses and appeals to send round.
I-Frame - A security defect that allows executing an e-mail attachment without user's click.
In-the-wild - Denotation of viruses and malicious software that can be met ordinary when working with a computer (i.e. that are not laboratory matter).
Keylogger - A program that records pressed keys. It is usually used for stealing some information (login and password etc.).
Macrovirus - A computer virus that is able to affect documents and spread through them (Word, Excel, Powerpoint...).
Malign Software (Malware) - Malicious software. It is a complex denotation of any undesirable programs that are installed on the computer without user's knowledge and behave in an unwanted way.
On-access - Processing (mainly scanning for viruses) in the act of doing something with file, region etc.
On-demand - Processing (mainly scanning for viruses) defined group of files/programs etc. (usually whole disks or directories).
Patch - A process on which computer software errors are corrected.
Computer virus - A part of a program code that is able to replicate repeatedly using a host application. In a clear and simple language: virus is a computer program that spreads without being noticed by the person sitting at the computer.
Resident antivirus program - An antivirus program permanently running in the computer memory where checks files real-time.
Social engineering - An attack method whose object is to gain data and information from the weakest security point (which is usually human). Uses mostly deceits or cheats.
Spyware (Spy Software) - Software installed on a computer that monitors running tasks (all or only some of them) - entering passwords, executed programs, written e-mails etc.).
Stealth - Computer virus's ability to become "invisible" for antivirus programs.
Trojan horse - Any computer program that does what the user expects but besides does something that the user does not know at all and that would probably disagree with.
Virus - A part of a program code that is able to replicate repeatedly using a host application. In a clear and simple language: virus is a computer program that spreads without being noticed by the person sitting at the computer.
ZOO viruses - Viruses that normally cannot be met. Only test samples or technological specimens are denoted by this term.

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Introduction to the antivirus protection