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Glossary  

This glossary contains many of the terms you will find throughout the SpywareRemove.com website.

C

Camping out
A hacking method that is used to break into a computer system and find a unsupervised place. Once it is done, the attacker may monitor the system, store information or break into the system later.

CD-R, CD-RW Recordable CD
There are different formats for CDs which are the "R" (recordable) and "RW" (rewritable). CD-R are written once and read many times. CD-RW are written and overwritten many times.

Certificate
An electronic document that proves identity the identity of a website by many cryptographic systems. These certificates are also used to prove weather the website is authentic and genuine and includes a public key and user’s name.

Certificate authority
An organization that issues security certificates.

Certificate authority-signed SSL
A secure socket layer that provides authentication and encrypts data through a certificate that is digitally signed by the certificate authority.

Clean, cleaning
(alternately called "repair") The operation of the scanner after it detects a spyware, adware, malware, or other parasites. With the help of the cleaning action, you can remove spiteful code from a file and restore the file to usability. You can also remove the registry, references to the file from system files, and system INI files.

CleanBoot disk
An anti-virus CD or floppy disk that is used to scan your computer and remove infected files. Once you put it inside your machine and turn on your PC, CleanBoot disk will be launched by using its own operating system.

COM File
COM is short for “command”) It is a simple type of an executable file that contains instructions that can do something on your computer. COM files also implement DOS emulators. COM files run faster than programs which have EXE format. The authors of computer viruses often infect .COM files. When the .COM executes, the virus runs as well and often it adds into memory.

Companion virus
A viral program that does not necessarily attach itself to a certain program, but takes a similar name and priority program rules to associate itself to a regular program.

Compile
To translate a program written in a high-level programming language from source code into object code. A “compiler” program converts a particular programming language into machine language or code that a computer’s processor uses. A “compiler” program detects syntax errors when a script is being compiled.

Compression
The technique that allows the storing data in a format that requires less space than normal. Data compression is very useful in communication because it allows processing, storing and transmitting the same amount of data in fewer bits. Malware and grayware authors usually use different compression types or algorithms in order to reduce their program’s size or conceal the original digital structure of their program. For instance, malware employs binary compression because it makes it harder to disassemble and analyze the malicious application. Moreover, it obfuscates original entry point (OEP). Currently there appeared many outbreaks that were due to the application of different compression algorithms on existing malware variants to produce new ones that tricked antivirus scanners.

Cookies
Cookies are small text files that many Web sites use to store information about pages visited and other settings (temporary or persistent). For example, cookies might contain login or registration information, shopping cart information, or user preferences. When a server receives a browser request that includes a cookie, the server can use the information stored in the cookie to customize the Web site for the user.

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