Posts tagged vocabulary
What are Zero Day Attacks?
0Yesterday, I heard four different people use the term “Zero Day Attack”. Strangely, only two were in the information technology business. I figured that it was time to explicitly discuss its meaning.
The Information Technology (IT) Vocabulary Builder series aims to deliver a very concise summary of a currently relevant topic to Information Professionals. It is done mostly by collecting a small number of highly relevant web links to save you the time of combing through search results yourself.
So, what exactly is a “Zero Day Attack”?
This is how Wikipedia defines it:
“A zero-day (or zero-hour or day zero) attack or threat is a computer threat that tries to exploit computer application vulnerabilities that are unknown to others, undisclosed to the software developer, or for which no security fix is available. Zero-day exploits (actual code that can use a security hole to carry out an attack) are used or shared by attackers before the software developer knows about the vulnerability.
The term derives from the age of the exploit. When a developer becomes aware of a security hole, there is a race to close it before attackers discover it or the vulnerability becomes public. A "zero day" attack occurs on or before the first or "zeroth" day of developer awareness, meaning the developer has not had any opportunity to distribute a security fix to users of the software.”
Please understand that I am not condoning, approving, or commenting on the morality of this issue, just pointing out a popular word that should be understood by all Information Technology Professionals.
Here are some other great sites that discuss this issue:
I hope that helps you. Enjoy the new word!
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for March 16, 2010 ©Scott Coughlin.
Image Credit: The Toilette Paper Entrepreneur
What is a Hacktivist?
0The Information Technology (IT) Vocabulary Builder series aims to
deliver a very concise summary of a currently relevant topic to Information Professionals. It is done mostly by collecting a small number of highly relevant web links to save you the time of combing through search results yourself.
I came upon the word, Hacktivism, today, and I honestly had never heard it used before outside of the news. I surmised that it must be starting to be mainstreamed.
This is how Wikipedia defines it:
“Hacktivism (a portmanteau of hack and activism) is "the nonviolent use of illegal or legally ambiguous digital tools in pursuit of political ends. These tools include web site defacements, redirects, denial-of-service attacks, information theft, web site parodies, virtual sit-ins, virtual sabotage, and software development."[1] It is often understood as the writing of code to promote political ideology – promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, or information ethics. Acts of hacktivism are carried out in the belief that proper use of code will be able to produce similar results to those produced by regular activism or civil disobedience.”
Please understand that I am not condoning, approving, or commenting on the morality of this issue, just pointing out a new word that should be understood by all Information Technology Professionals.
Here are some other great sites that discuss this issue:
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Wired – Hacktivism and How It Got Here
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Info War – Activism, Hacktivism, and Cyberterrorism
I hope that helps you. Enjoy the new word!
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for March 12, 2010 ©Scott Coughlin.
Image Credit: Cafe Press
What does Hyberlocal mean?
0Sometime words just start repeating themselves all around you. Over the past two weeks, I have heard the term “hyperlocal” used about a dozen times in tech podcasts and magazines, I figured that it was time to explicitly discuss its meaning.
The Information Technology (IT) Vocabulary Builder series aims to deliver a very concise summary of a currently relevant topic to Information Professionals. It is done mostly by collecting a small number of highly relevant web links to save you the time of combing through search results yourself.
So, what exactly does hyperlocal mean?
This is how Wikipedia defines it:
Basically, it is the concept of focusing on the world within the span of your personal space. Targeting marketing to a single person, for example. Or you searching and caring about only things that impact of influence just you. If local interests are a subset of regional ones, then hyperlocal interests are a further subdivision. Negatively, it is the concentration of your concern to just you with little regard for the space outside your arm swing.
So what is the connection to the Information Age and Information Technology? Before our current tech age, focusing on a personal space this small was impossible. It is only through the massive data sets that are freely available on the web combined with the processing power locally and that is mobile that one can even consider this sort of laser focus. You can’t get hyperlocal news from a newspaper, it has to appeal to too many readers over too large an area. You can’t get it from TV that has an even larger span with even less ability to target an ad campaign. No, you can only get this from one person, access to the Internet, and the ability to search and cull.
The implications to society, individuals, marketing, news delivery, and content generation are huge. IT Professionals need to understand, employ, and relate to this paradigm change in information processing.
Here are some other great sites that discuss this issue:
New York Times – ‘Hyperlocal’ Web Sites Deliver News Without Newspapers
hyperlocal 101
hyperlocal.org
I hope that helps you. Enjoy the new word!
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for April 21, 2010 ©Scott Coughlin.
Image Credit: The Florida Project Learning Tree