1. Computing

Antivirus Glossary of Terms

Virus terms and definitions can sometimes be confusing. Use the antivirus glossary to learn what the various malicious code terms really mean.

What is Antivirus Software?
Many products claim to detect and remove malware. But what is antivirus software and is it really necessary?

What is Antivirus Software?
Many products claim to detect and remove malware. But what is antivirus software and is it really necessary?

Adobe Flash Cookies
Adobe Flash cookies work through the ubiquitous Adobe Flash and enables any of Adobe's partners to set global cookies that are maintained on Adobe's servers instead of your own computer. The offsite storage means you really aren't deleting cookies when you clear your local cache.

What is Malvertising?
Malvertising is malicious advertising that contains active scripts designed to download malware or force unwanted content onto your computer. Here's how to block it.

What is Malvertising?
Malvertising is malicious advertising that contains active scripts designed to download malware or force unwanted content onto your computer. Here's how to block it.

Worm

Spamdexing: Antivirus Glossary
Spamdexing is a method used to inflate the search engine rankings of a particular page, generally for malicious or unethical purposes.

Spamdexing: Antivirus Glossary
Spamdexing is a method used to inflate the search engine rankings of a particular page, generally for malicious or unethical purposes.

WildList

ActiveX

ActiveX

Whitelisting

Antivirus

Antivirus

Virus

Attachment
Email attachments are a common form on infection. Find out what threat these Internet worms pose, disguised as innocent attachments.

Attachment
Email attachments are a common form on infection. Find out what threat these Internet worms pose, disguised as innocent attachments.

Trojan

Behavior Blocking

Behavior Blocking

Stealth Virus

Boot Sector Virus

Boot Sector Virus

Signature

Buffer Overrun

Buffer Overrun

Scanner

Disinfection

Disinfection

Rootkit

False Negative

False Negative

Remote Access Trojan (RAT)
RATs, or Remote Access Trojans, provide a "backdoor" into the system through which the unscrupulous hacker can snoop into your system - even running other malicious code if s/he chooses.

False Positive

False Positive

Portable Executable (PE_EXE)

Is it Anti Virus or Antivirus Software?
Though nearly all reputable scanning vendors spell it antivirus, there's no real consensus on the proper name. Some users (and vendors) may spell...

File Virus

File Virus

Polymorphic

Heuristics

Heuristics

Payload

Hoax

Hoax

Malware

Host Intrusion Prevention Software (HIPS)

Host Intrusion Prevention Software (HIPS)

Macro Virus

In-the-Wild (ITW)

In-the-Wild (ITW)

Macintosh Virus

Integrity Checker

Integrity Checker

Macintosh Virus

Macro Virus

Malware

Payload

Polymorphic

Portable Executable (PE_EXE)

Remote Access Trojan (RAT)
RATs, or Remote Access Trojans, provide a "backdoor" into the system through which the unscrupulous hacker can snoop into your system - even running other malicious code if s/he chooses.

Rootkit

Scanner

Signature

Stealth Virus

Trojan

Virus

Whitelisting

WildList

Worm

Adobe Flash Cookies
Adobe Flash cookies work through the ubiquitous Adobe Flash and enables any of Adobe's partners to set global cookies that are maintained on Adobe's servers instead of your own computer. The offsite storage means you really aren't deleting cookies when you clear your local cache.

Is it Anti Virus or Antivirus Software?
Though nearly all reputable scanning vendors spell it antivirus, there's no real consensus on the proper name. Some users (and vendors) may spell...

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