Glossary search results: 24

A.I.M.


Activity Insight Management (A.I.M.) is the online reporting system used by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to document the teaching, research, and service activities performed by its faculty members.

Contact:  John Standard 
262-595-2930


Beta

Beta software refers to computer software that is undergoing testing and has not yet been officially released. The beta phase follows the alpha phase, but precedes the final version.


Cookies

Cookies are messages that web servers pass to your web browser when you visit Internet sites. Your browser stores each message in a small file, called cookie.txt. When you request another page from the server, your browser sends the cookie back to the server. These files typically contain information about your visit to the web page, as well as any information you've volunteered, such as your name and interests.

The term "cookie" is an allusion to a Unix program called Fortune Cookie that produces a different message, or fortune, each time it runs.


Cybersecurity


Measures taken to protect computers or critical infrastructure. 


Denial‐of‐service attack (DOS)


Flooding the networks or servers of individuals or organizations with false data requests so they are unable to respond to requests from legitimate users. 


Document Camera

A Document Camera is a real-time image capture device used for displaying an image or object to a large audience. It is in essence, a high resolution web camera that is mounted on a rotating arm so as to facilitate its placement over a flat surface.


FERPA (Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act)


The method with which the University of Parkside governs the distribution of student information is based on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 or FERPA. This Act, as amended, established the requirements governing the privacy of student educational records in regards to the release of those records and access to those records. This Act is also known as the Buckley Amendment. The Act gives four basic rights to students:

  • the right to review their education records;
  • the right to seek to amend their education records;
  • the right to limit disclosure of personally identifiable information (directory information);
  • the right to notify the Department of Education concerning an academic institution's failure to comply with FERPA regulations.
Take the FERPA Tutorial:


Hacker


A person with special expertise in computer systems and software. A hacker who attempts to gain unauthorized access to computer systems is a "cracker." 


Hacktivist


An individual who breaches Web sites or secured communications systems to deliver political messages, including those related to foreign policy, or propaganda.


Identity management


A method of validating a person`s identity when he/she tries to access a network. 


Instructional Continuity

The continuation of course instruction in the event of a campus closure.


Malicious code (also malware)


Any code that can be used to attack a computer by spreading viruses, crashing networks, gathering intelligence, corrupting data, distributing misinformation and interfering with normal operations. 


Pharming


The act of sending an e‐mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e‐mail directs the user to visit a website where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information.


Phishing


A fraudulent practice of sending purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to give up personal information such as passwords, credit cards, addresses, account numbers, social security numbers, etc.


Ransomware


A form of malicious software that encrypts the victim's data and then demands a ransom payment in return for the key needed to decrypt the data. Few, if any, ransomware attackers are known to have actually provided a decryption key to victims who paid the ransom.


SameSite Cookie Attribute

The SameSite attribute tells a browser when and how to fire a cookie in first or third-party situations. This attribute prevents the browser from sending the cookie along with cross-site requests in order to mitigate risks of cross-origin attacks.  See the following resource for more information: SameSite Cookie Attribute Explained



Spam


Unsolicited bulk e‐mail that may contain malicious software. Spam is now said to account for around 81 percent of all e‐mail traffic. 


Spear Phishing


A type of phishing attack that focuses on a single user or department within an organization, addressed from someone within the company in a position of trust and requesting information such as login IDs and passwords. Spear phishing scams will often appear to be from a company's own human resources or technical support divisions and may ask employees to update their username and passwords. Once hackers get this data, they can gain entry into secured networks. Another type of spear phishing attack will ask users to click on a link, which deploys spyware that can thieve data


Spoofing
TAM
Virus
VPN
Worm
YuJa