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Definition of terms

Attack
Any attempt to either obtain higher than normal access or to intentionally deny other users proper use of a computer facility
Buffer overflow
When a program recieves more data than what it expected and is not programmed to cope with such situations, the extra data will be put in memory, probably overwriting other internal structures of a program. A well-crafted buffer overflow can lead the attacked program to execute arbitrary code, possibly giving the attacker complete control over the computer.
DoS
(Denial of Service) An attack or situation where the victim host is presented with a much larger amount of request than what it can process, effectively blocking the service to any user who legitimately needs to use it.
Firewall
A computer that sits at the perimeter of an internal, trusted network, connected to a larger, less-trusted network (such as Internt), filtering and recording undesirable packets from/to the outside world in order to enhance security for the internal network.
IETF RFC
Internet Engineering Task Force's Request For Comments are a set of documents discussing and defining network protocols and other standards required for the correct inter-network operation needed for today's Internet to function.
Line-oriented
A protocol that sets the boundary for any client or server command to be the new line character.[*]
Protocol
A set of rules defining how a specific task should be handled by the computer. All computer network communications are carried out through several layers of protocols, ranging from the physical, concrete layer (electric signals and their immediate meanings) to much more abstract layers.
RFC
see IETF RFC
root
The privileged super-user account, used for administration purposes. Attackers often are looking for a way to forcibly get access to the root account, as there is practically no limit to what it can do in a Unix system.
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, a protocol for Internet applications which require session handling or delivery acknowledgement, such as FTP, Telnet, SMTP, SSH and many others. This work is centered on line-oriented TCP/IP-based protocols.
UDP/IP
User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol, a stateless protocol for Internet applications which do not require session handling nor delivery acknowledgement, such as DNS, BootP, TFTP, RPC and many others.
UID
User ID, a number identifying each user in a Unix system. UID 0 is reserved for the root user.
Unix
The prevalent server operating system in use in Internet; a multi-tasking, multi-user operating system designed in 1969 by Bell Labs


next up previous contents
Next: Overview of study Up: Introduction Previous: Rationale of study   Contents
Gunnar Wolf
2001-03-12