Security Inquiry

[Floresta]

Could you please provide me which defines each terms:
FIREWALLS - VIRUSES - SNIFFERS - WORMS.
ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED. THANKS.

[Paleo Pete]

Firewall: Application used to block unauthorized access to your computer.

Virus: Program designed primarily to replicate itself, some are designed to be malicious, and damage computer equipment, erase data, or otherwise ruin your whole day.
NOTE: No known virus as of yet is capable of activating itself, the program (or email message) it is attached to must be accessed or run first, otherwise it is useless. Many also are time sensitive, and remain dormant until a specific date, at which time they will activate, after being accessed in the first place. www.mcaffee.com (http://www.mcaffee.com) or Norton's site will have more info.

Sniffer: Not too sure about this one, as far as I understand, it's similar to a port scanner, which scans your computer for open ports, through which it can be accessed. Someone else may come along and correct me...

Worm: Similar to a trojan. An application that is secretly stored in your computer that allows remote access, or notifies the sender of your online presence. May be wrong on this one too...

A few sites that may have some good info:

Gibson Research Corporation Homepage (http://grc.com/default.htm)

Internet Security Issues (http://www.geocities.com/~budallen/security2.html#Now)

Secured (http://anti-trojan.virtualave.net/page2.html) Descriptions and links.

Zone Labs (http://www.zonelabs.com/) Home of Zone Alarm.

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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[ixl]

For general "what does this mean" questions, try http://www.webopedia.com - you can also access this from the search box at the bottom of any page in the regular part of the site.

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.