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Copyright(c) 1995 - 2001 by Ted Haynes
mass individualization The customizing of products for individual consumers on a large scale and at a low cost. It requires the consumer to participate in the individualization.
MCNS See Multimedia Cable Network System.
medallion The microchip within a smart card.
meta-message In the EDIFACT standard, a message that describes the structure of other messages.
metadata A description, usually in digital form and conforming to a well defined template, of a set of useful data. Also, an index composed of such descriptions. Analogous to a card in a library card catalogue system, a metadata description of a set of data might include an abstract of the data and the data's format, multimedia content, location, and usage fees. See USMARC, Harvest, WHOIS++, and Z39.50.
Metcalfe's Law The total value of a network to its users grows as the square of the total number of users. The law was developed by Bob Metcalfe originally to convince people of the value of Ethernet and has also been referred to by George Gilder as the law of the telecosm. An important consequence of the law is that the ratio of value to cost for adding one more network user grows disproportionately (increasing returns) as the network gets bigger.
Multimedia Cable Network System (MCNS) An industry consortium that defines the technical requirements for the interoperability of high speed cable modem and headend equipment. See interoperability and cable modem in the hard copy dictionary.
NAS See Network Access Server.
NAT See network address translation
navigation The actions of a user in exploring a Web site (or multiple Web sites) or in searching for information or resources. Also the design of a Web site, including links, text, graphics, and page layouts to facilitate navigation by users.
NCOS Network Computer Operating System. An operating system from Oracle Corporation for use in Internet appliances (which see). It will include electronic mail, videoconferencing, an Internet browser, and a rudimentary word processor.
NEST Novell Embedded Systems Technology A Novell technology for transmitting data over power lines, currently at one or two megabits per second and eventually targeted to reach ten megabits per second. It lets developers run NetWare 4 on microprocessors (yet to be developed and embedded in home appliances) that are not powerful enough to support a typical network node. See Smart Energy Network Alliance on this Web page and PLC (power line carrier) in the hard copy dictionary.
netcasting The broadcasting of information over the Internet using server push technology. Generally limited to webcasting.
netizen A citizen of cyberspace. An Internet user.
Netscape Scripting Language A subset of Java, developed by Netscape, that comes with its own object library and does not permit users to create new classes of objects. It allows users to add functions such as forms processing to Netscape Navigator. See Java.
nettop An alternate term for Internet appliance (which see). Also see set-top box in the hard copy dictionary.
Network Access Server (NAS) A device providing temporary, on-demand access by individuals to a network. NAS most commonly refers to a remote access server providing dial-up access over analog or ISDN telephone lines.
network address translation (NAT) The substitution of an official IP address for a private or unregistered IP address. NAT gives organizations more flexibility in assigning addresses internal to their network and allows users to share a limited number of registered IP addresses on an as needed basis. NAT is also used to make attacks(especially active attacks ) on the network much more difficult by avoiding the transmission of internal IP addresses over the Internet as either source or destination addresses. NAT is usually performed by a router or firewall. (See IP address, network, Internet, router, and firewall in the hard copy dictionary.)
Network Computer Oracle's name for Internet appliance (which see).
Network Service Provider As opposed to Internet Service Providers who sell to end-users, Network Service Providers sell high volume Internet backbone capacity to Internet Service Providers. Network Service Providers often sell to end users as well. Sometimes called "carriers", Network Service Providers include MCI, AT&T, Sprint, and European Postal, Telegraph, and Telephone (PTT) agencies. (See Internet Service Provider and backbone in the hard copy dictionary.)
NSAPI Netscape's proprietary API for interfacing between the company's Web server and back-end services such as databases. NSAPI provides higher performance than the industry standard Common Gateway Interface (which see in the hard copy dictionary).
NSP See Network Service Provider
Oakley A protocol for establishing session keys on Internet hosts and routers. Oakley provides perfect forward secrecy. It can be used with ISAKMP or by itself if attribute negotiation is not needed. Oakley describes a series of key exchanges - called "modes"-- and details the services provided by each (e.g. perfect forward secrecy for keys, identity protection, and authentication).
OCX Object Embedding and Linking Control. Microsoft utility programs which allow Microsoft's Web server software (See Blackbird) to link to other applications to present animation and other capabilities. Internet Explorer (which see) will be able to download OCXs and provide capabilities similar to Hot Java (which see).
off-line debit card A debit card which settles transactions by drawing funds from the user's checking account approximately two days after the transaction - similar to the timing for paper checks. In contrast, funds are transferred almost instantaneously when online debit cards are used. Consumers and merchants handle off-line debit cards (also known as check cards) like credit cards. Customers sign a transaction slip but do not need to provide a PIN. (See debit card, settlement, clearing, and PIN in the hard copy dictionary.)
off-line debit card system A system occurring most often in retailers handling small transactions (e.g. gas stations) in which debit card transactions are not validated and processed as they occur but are handled in batch mode. The merchant accepts the same risk of loss as with a paper check.
oil card A credit card issued by a major oil company. See retail card.
OLE Object Embedding and Linking. A set of protocols which allow programs operating in Microsoft Windows to cooperate with each other. An integral part of Microsoft Windows, OLE allows developers to use objects created in one application (such as charts created in Excel) in a document in another application (such as Word or PowerPoint).
one-time password system An authentication system in which the user's private key or pass-phrase is never sent over the network but is used to calculate passwords which are unique to the user and which are different and unpredictable each time they are used. One-time password systems are designed to protect against passive attacks by preventing replay of passwords that have been captured by eavesdropping on the network. IETF Request for Comment 1938 proposes a standard for one time passwords which is derived from S/Key. (See authentication, private key cryptography, token, and two-factor authentication in the hard copy dictionary.)
online broker A retail securities broker that either provides all its services over the Internet (e.g. E*TRADE) or is an important competitor for online brokerage business (e.g. Charles Schwab).
Open EDI A model for EDI in which trading partners' applications exchange information with no prior human agreement required. It requires the use of an existing "scenario" developed by a user community. Open EDI will lower the barriers to establishing EDI relationships with new partners and facilitate the relationships between existing partners. The model is being developed by the international standardization committee ISO/IEC JTC1 SC30. CD 14662 is the draft standard.
open video system A business model for distribution of video signals, established and regulated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, in which an LEC (which see) may control up to a third of a video distribution system capacity and provide the remainder on a non-discriminatory basis to any and all content providers. An LEC operating within this model is not regulated as a cable TV system and is not required to obtain a cable TV franchise from the local community.
opt-in The express act by a customer of granting a marketer permission to deliver marketing messages to the customer. The permission is typically granted by registering on a Web site or responding to an unsolicited E-mail and the messages are typically delivered by E-mail. See opt-out and permission marketing.
opt-out The instruction by a customer to a marketer to halt the delivery of marketing messages, typically periodic E-mails. Most responsible marketers embed opt-out procedures in their marketing messages and make it easy for customers to opt-out. See opt-in and permission marketing.
ORA organizational registration authority An organization which does not issue digital certificates (which see in the hard copy dictionary) but registers users and vouches for their identity to a certificate authority (which see in the hard copy dictionary).
Orange Book A standard published by the Department of Defense to classify computer security into four hierarchical divisions (A thru D) to specify the level of trust required by the U.S. government for particular applications.
Other Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) The entire family of DSL technology supporting data rates from 128 Kbps to 52 Mbps over various distances between the subscriber and the telephone company central office. See bits per second and subscriber in the hard copy dictionary.
OTP See one-time password system.
PAC See PPTP Access Concentrator
packet authentication User authentication plus assurance of data integrity. Within the context of IPSec authentication means packet authentication and assures the recipient of an IP packet not only that the sender is who he or she claims to be but also that the data has not been modified in any way during transmission. Within the general context of gaining access to networks and resources authentication assures the identity of the user without assuring data integrity. (See authentication and data integrity in the hard copy dictionary.)
page view A unit for measuring Web site readership which corresponds to one person viewing one page, or at least a portion of a page, one time. If a person leaves a certain page and returns to it in the same visit to the Web site two page views are counted. Page views are a more difficult to measure than hits but are a much more useful and relevant measure of the attention a page garners from viewers. (See hit and Web page in the hard copy dictionary.)
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 An act that requires all federal agencies to use electronic filing forms to reduce demands on the public for paperwork 10% by 1996/97 and 5% annually through the year 2000.
partial URL A Uniform Resource Locator which refers to locations in relation to the document currently being viewed, typically a location on the same server or Web site.
partner program See affiliate program.
passive attack An attempt to break security by capturing information without altering it. See active attack, one-time password sytem, and replay attack.
pay-per-click The ability to pay, typically in very small amounts or micro-payments (which see in the hardcopy dictionary), for information or entertainment received over the Internet or the Web. The term implies that each payment is automatic and that simply requesting the information provides agreement to pay for it.
payment switch A network service, provided on Web servers from Open Market, that authorizes and executes digital payment orders over the Internet which are backed by external accounts. The switch creates digital representations of conventional negotiable instruments (e.g. checks, drafts, notes, bonds) and forwards them to conventional financial institutions. The payment switch uses "payment URLs" (which see) to enable purchases over the World Wide Web. Once payment is assured, the switch sends an "access URL" (which see) to the buyer that confirms the purchase of an item to be delivered off-line or enables the delivery of an online product or service.
payment URL A URL used by a payment switch (which see) that specifies a merchant, the name of merchant's payment switch, the URL of the product being bought if it is a product which can be delivered online, the price, the expiration date of the price/offer, and the digital signature of the payment URL derived from the merchant's private key. The switch combines the payment URL with the encrypted buyer identification and password or passwords. After authentication of the buyer and the merchant, the switch authorizes payment by the buyer designated financial institution.
PCT Private Communication Technology. A mechanism developed by Microsoft and Visa to compete with Netscape's SSL in enabling spontaneous, flexible, and secure commercial transactions. Microsoft's STT builds upon PCT and is intended for end-to-end banking systems. (See SSL and STT in the hard copy dictionary.)
Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) An attribute of some encryption methodologies which assures that compromise of a single key will permit access to only data protected by that key. For PFS to exist the key used to protect transmission of data must not be used to derive any additional keys, and if the key used to protect transmission of data was derived from some other keying material, that material must not be used to derive any more keys.
perl Practical Extraction and Reporting Language. A popular scripting language for writing CGI applications because it facilitates data and text manipulation.
permission based marketing The sending of multiple marketing messages, typically E-mail messages, to individuals who have given the marketer permission to send the messages to the individual. The messages are often embedded in free E-mail newsletters that provide news and information. See opt-in and opt-out.
PFS See Perfect Forward Secrecy
PICS Platform for Internet Content Selection. A set of protocols developed by the World Wide Web consortium for communicating a rating for a Web, FTP or newsgroup server to an Internet client. PICS is intended to give users a method for categorizing, rating, and filtering Web and other Internet content. The protocols are extensions to both HTTP and HTML and allow users to customize selection criteria, or adopt, from a third party such as a Parent Teacher Association, established selection criteria or a list of sites to be screened out.
PKCS #11 See Cryptoki.
PKI Public Key Infrastructure A set of independent services to be developed by competing organizations that will support the use of Public Key in information security applications as well as in electronic commerce. The PKI will determine the policies for issuance of digital certificates, will issue and revoke certificates, and will save the information needed to subsequently validate the certificates. It will include certificate authorities organized both in hierarchies and in peer-to-peer networks. (See Public Key Cryptography, digital certificates, and certificate authority in the hard copy dictionary.)
plug-in Software that runs on a client processor and in conjunction with a Web browser to provide specialized manipulation of data obtained over the network. Plug-ins and ActiveX components have the advantages over Java applets that they run faster and don't have to be downloaded because they already exist on the client machine. Plug-in and ActiveX disadvantages versus applets are that they must be manually acquired and installed by the user before they can be used. Marc Andreessen, a founder of Netscape, said in 1996, "Over the long term you'll see both the demise of plug-ins and ActiveX as everyone moves to Java."
PNS See PPTP Network Server.
Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) A call-control and management protocol that allows a PPTP Network Server to control access by dial-in circuit switched calls received by a PPTP Access Concentrator. It provides flow and congestion controlled encapsulation datagram service for carrying Point-to-Point Protocol packets. While PPTP does not provide encryption it can be used in conjunction with encryption to provide a Virtual Private Network over the Internet between an individual dialup user and a LAN or WAN.
policy card A hardware device used in conjunction with an encryption engine (which see) to establish the strength of the encryption algorithm in a given computer. Policy cards could be adapted to support key escrow. See key escrow and Capstone in the hard copy dictionary.
pop-up ad See intersitial.
portal A Web site that provides at least three essential functions: a search engine, Web-based E-mail, and personalized news. A portal is intended to be the site its users first connect to whenever they log onto the Internet. It attracts users by providing personalized and customized services (E-mail and news) and providing search and directory services which are frequently used to find and access other sites. Some portals are provided to their customers by Internet Service Providers to make their service more competitive. Most portals gain revenue by selling advertising space on their sites. See Web site, Internet, and Internet Service Provider in the hard copy dictionary.
PPTP See Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol.
PPTP Access Concentrator (PAC) A Network Access Server capable of supporting the Point-to-Point protocol on one or more analog or ISDN lines and supporting the PPTP protocol to communicate with one or more PPTP Network Servers using TCP/IP. See Point-to-Point protocol and TCP/IP in the hard copy dictionary.
PPTP Network Server (PNS) A device which provides the interface between the Point-to-Point Protocol (encapsulated in the PPTP protocol) and a LAN or WAN. The PNS uses the PPTP protocol to support tunneling between a PPTP Access Concentrator and the PNS. As described in an IETF draft document on PPTP, a PNS is expected to run on a general purpose computing/server platform. See Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol. (See Point-to-Point Protocol, encapsulation, LAN, WAN, and IETF in the hard copy dictionary.)
PPTP Point-to-Point Tunneling. A protocol for use with remote access which carries encrypted, secure traffic over the Internet between an Internet service provider (ISP) and a remote access server. It requires the use of the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) between the remote client and the ISP and provides substantial savings versus telephone calls between the client and the remote access server using regular long distance or 800 number service. (See remote access, encryption, Internet service provider, server, and Point-to-Point Protocol in the hard copy dictionary.)
presentment Demand for payment of a negotiable instrument (e.g. a check).
private label card A credit card carrying the name of a retailer but actually issued and managed by a third party processor.
profiling Collecting and analyzing information that individuals have provided about themselves (see registration) and information about their online behavior (e.g. sites visited and content viewed), for the purpose of targeting marketing campaigns.
proxy negotiation The establishment of a secure communications link where the negotiating parties (i.e. hosts) are not the endpoints for which the security association negotiation is taking place. Proxy negotiation allows the identities of the end parties to remain hidden.
Proxy RADIUS Server A RADIUS Server at the Point-of-Presence of an Internet Service Provider or Network Service Provider that is able to access a client organization's RADIUS server to obtain user information and enable authentication of users attempting to set up a Virtual Private Network for secure access to the organization's LAN over the Internet. (See Point-of-Presence, Internet Service Provider, authentication, LAN and Internet in the hard copy dictionary.)
PTAL Payment Transaction Application Layer. An open standard developed in part by CommerceNet (which see in the hard copy dictionary) which allows merchants to accept any type of electronic payment over the Internet.
Public Switched Telephone Network The nationwide and worldwide telephone systems accessible on-demand from telephones and modems. It includes individual dialup subscriber lines as well as high capacity circuits that are shared by multiple users on a first come first served basis. It does not include dedicated local and long distance lines (e.g. dedicated T-1) provided by telephone companies to large organizations, to Internet Service Providers, and Network Service Providers. Sometimes PSTN is used to mean only those facilities accessible by analog dial and to exclude ISDN. (See modem, dialup, subscriber, circuit-switched network, dedicated line, T-1, backbone, and Internet Service Provider in the hard copy dictionary.)
publisher The owner of a Web site that provides information, entertainment, software, or other content designed to attract and serve Internet users. Some publishers accept advertising and derive revenue from it.
RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service A public domain standard which defines the interfaces between a network access server, such as a firewall or a remote access server and a system which provides authentication, authorization, and accounting services. A RADIUS server is a system that provides these services and supports the standard RADIUS interfaces. RADIUS was originally developed by Livingston Enterprises. Also see an alternative to RADIUS called TACACS+. (See firewall, authentication, and authorization in the hard copy dictionary.)
RAL Refund Anticipation Loan. A very short term loan made by a bank to an electronic taxpayer once a tax return is filed and due to be repaid when the refund is received from the Internal Revenue Service. When the IRS receives the return it issues a DDI (Direct Deposit Indicator) number that assures the lending bank that the taxpayer has no other debt to the government. RALs were once viewed as extremely safe loans but fraudulent returns, filed specifically to obtain RALs, have forced banks to raise their fees or abandon making such loans altogether.
RealAudio A software product from Progressive Networks Inc. which enables the creation of audio files on Web servers and delivery over the Internet to Web browsers.
recovery key The key that is used to encrypt the key recovery field in a key recovery scheme. The recovery key is escrowed at a key recovery center or parts of the key are escrowed at multiple key recovery centers. A single recovery key may be used with all versions of a particular product or methodology (e.g. Capstone - which see in the hard copy dictionary), with the specific organization using the key (e.g. customers using the Northern Telecom Entrust product), or with a specific key recovery center (e.g. TIS, RSA, IBM, and AT&T). The recovery key may be associated with either party to a communication.
registration A Web site visitor's input of personal or business information into a form provided on the Web site. Registration allows the Web site owner to better understand viewers and customers, increases the likelihood of users returning to the site, and usually gains permission to send marketing messages to the visitor. (See opt-in and permission based marketing.) In return, the Web site owner may provide the registrant with access to restricted information (e.g. a research report), a Web site customized for the user, a free service (e.g. free E-mail), a discount on products or services, entry in a sweepstakes, or some other inducement to register. Users generally expect, and Web sites generally provide, a privacy statement describing how the information will be used.
registration service A generally free service on the Internet which requires registration by the user, sometimes including detailed user information, in return for access to the service.
Remote Access The ability of individual PC's or branch office LANs to establish data communications with their organization's backbone network, usually over dialup links. Remote access is most important for supporting mobile laptop users and enabling telecommuting. Organizations may lower their remote access administrative burden and telecommunication costs by contracting with an Internet Service Provider to receive dial-up calls at local POPs and route the calls over the network to the enterprise network. See Remote Access Server and Remote Access Concentrator. (See LAN, backbone, dialup, telecommuting, Internet Service Provider, and POP in the hard copy dictionary.)
Remote Access Concentrator A large remote access server often used by an Internet Service Provider (which see in the hard copy dictionary)
Remote Access Server A system which receives data calls, generally over telephone company dialup lines, and connects them to an enterprise backbone network. (See system, dialup, and backbone in the hard copy dictionary.)
repeat visitor A visitor to a Web site who has visited the site previously. Repeat visitors are usually identified by a cookie that was placed on their machine when they visited the site before. They may also be identified if they registered previously on the site and must identify themselves at the start of each visit in order to access content on the site. Repeat visitors are often tracked in the log file.
replay attack An attempt to break security by retransmitting information that was originally communicated legitimately. See active attack, one-time password system, and passive attack.
retail card A credit card issued by a retailer, most commonly a department store, which generally requires no annual fee from the user. Unlike major bank cards which are intended to earn a profit for the issuing bank, retail cards operations are expected to lose money or breakeven since their value to the retailer is in encouraging customer loyalty.
RFC 1827 An RFC (which see in the hard copy dictionary) which defines a standard method for IP data encryption as well as the encapsulating security payload. (See ESP.)
rich media Web content, often advertising, that includes full-motion video, audio, or games.
root certificate authority The highest level certificate authority (which see in the hard copy dictionary) in a certificate hierarchy. In the PEM model the root authority is referred to as the Internet PCA Registration Authority (which see along with certificate authority and PEM in the hard copy dictionary).
run of category The purchase of a given number of impressions from an ad network on a defined set of Web sites that have some similarity in their content or in the demographics of their customers. See run of network.
run of network The purchase of a given number of impressions on an ad network without any constraints on which Web sites the advertisements appear on. Run of network purchases are generally less expensive than run of category or purchases on a specific Web site because the placements are not targeted specifically to the advertiser’s customers (See targeting and because the ad network has greater flexibility in placing the ads.
run of site The purchase of a given number of impressions on a Web site without any constraints on which pages the advertisement appears. See run of network.
S-CDMA See Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access.
S/KEY A one-time password system released and trademarked by Bellcore.
S/MIME Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. A specification designed to enable encrypted messages to be exchanged between e-mail applications from different vendors. S/MIME is based on the Internet MIME standard (RFC 1521). Some vendors endorsing S/MIME are: Microsoft, Lotus, QUALCOMM, and RSA Data Security.
S/WAN A standard developed by RSA Data Security and several firewall vendors to ensure interoperability between competing firewall products. The standard will permit fully encrypted virtual private networks (which see) to operate between firewalls which encrypt at the IP level and which comply with the standard. (See encryption, firewall, and WAN in the hard copy dictionary.)
SA See Security Association
scrip A paper receipt dispensed by a scrip terminal that substitutes for cash in a retail establishment. Usually the scrip must be used at a specific retailer within twenty-four hours.
scrip terminal Similar to a small ATM terminal and used with an ATM or debit card to access an ATM network, a scrip terminal issues scrip which may be used to purchase goods or be exchanged for cash at a specific retailer. Located in stores, scrip terminals are less expensive to install and maintain than an ATM terminal because they do not need to protect cash.
SDSI Simple Distributed Security Infrastructure An alternative to the X.509 standard for digital certificates which uses a simple human-understandable language. In SDSI language certificates are signed statements and the digital signature is appended to the list that forms the statement. SDSI is being developed by Microsoft and MIT. (See X.509, digital certificates, and digital signature in the hard copy dictionary.)
SDV Switched digital video. Network technology which carries digital video signals over fiber optic cables and is intended to provide the backbone for delivering services such as Video on Demand (which see in the hard copy dictionary) to households.
search engine On the World Wide Web, a Web site that catalogues a vast number of Web pages and other documents on the Internet and provides links to them and descriptions of them for users. The search engine provides a list of hopefully relevant documents and Web pages in response to queries by users, usually in the form of words or phrases that indicate the topic the user is interested in. Search engines are often the key element in a portal. See World Wide Web, Web site, and Web page in the hard copy dictionary.
secure container A technology which uses encryption to ensure that a content provider receives payment each time a customer views a document or piece of data.
Secure Courier A protocol developed by Netscape which encrypts portions of online bank card and micropayment transactions in "secure digital envelopes" so that they can be sent by consumers to financial institutions without being understood by intermediaries (e.g. merchants) or by unauthorized parties. The protocol is based on SSL and provides functionality similar to CyberCash (for definitions of which see hard copy of dictionary).
secured credit card A credit card issued to a person with a poor credit record where the credit limit on the account is equal to the amount of money the person has deposited at the issuing bank.
SecureWeb A software developer's toolkit from Terisa Systems which merges Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and S-HTTP into a single solution. (See Terisa Systems, SSL, and S-HTTP in the hard copy dictionary.)
Security Association (SA) The combination of a policy and a key used to establish a secure and authenticated channel between two hosts. The ISAKMP SA is the shared policy and key used by the negotiating peers in the ISAKMP protocol to protect their communication.
security gateway A system which acts as the communications gateway between external untrusted systems and trusted hosts on their own subnetwork . It provides security services for the trusted hosts when they communicate with external untrusted systems. When a security gateway is providing services on behalf of one or more hosts on a trusted subnet, the security gateway establishes the Security Association on behalf of its trusted host and provides security services between the security gateway and the external systems. In this case, the gateway uses the IP Authentication Header, while all of the systems behind the gateway on the trusted subnet may take advantage of IP Authentication Header services without having to implement them. (See system and host in the hard copy dictionary.)
security kernel The hardware or software that provides security functions for a computer system. See information security.
seigniorage In economics, the income a government receives from the minting of currency (coins and paper bills) derived from the difference between the cost of materials in the currency and the currency's face value. US government annual income from seigniorage approaches twenty billion dollars. Digital cash, issued by banks or other parties, may be opposed by governments because it can replace currency and decrease government income from seigniorage. (See digital cash and electronic purse in the hard copy dictionary).
SEPP Secure Electronic Payment Protocol. A MasterCard network payment protocol developed and supported by IBM, Netscape, GTE, and others.
service mark A name, symbol, or device used by the provider of services to identify its services and distinguish them from services provided by and sold by others.
server push The continuous sending of new text, images, and other information from a Web server to a Web browser. Server push uses MIME's ability to send multiple documents within a single message to compose never ending message customized to an individual user's workstation. Implementations of server push, such as that from PointCast, are generally referred to as Webcasting or netcasting. See server, Web, browser, and MIME in the hard copy dictionary.
SET Secure Electronic Transaction. A standard established by MasterCard and Visa for the secure use of credit, debit, and corporate purchasing cards over the Internet. Co-developers and supporters are Microsoft, CyberCash, GTE, IBM, and Netscape. Other supporters include RSA Data Security, Terisa Systems, and VeriSign. SET represents an evolution, merging, and replacement of S-HTTP and SSL (which see in the hard copy dictionary).
shovelware Text, graphics, and images taken from company marketing materials (e.g. printed brochures) and placed on Web pages with minimal adaptation to the unique characteristics of the Web as a medium.
SKEME A key exchange technique which provides anonymity, repudiability, and quick key refreshment.
SKIP Simple Key Management for Internet Protocols - A key management protocol developed by Sun Microsystems that allows un-modified applications to utilize encryption and/or authentication to secure communications over IP networks. An Internet host can send an encrypted packet to another host without requiring a prior message exchange to set up a secure channel. Its advantages include absence of setup overhead and support for unidirectional IP and scalable multi-cast key distribution. SKIP's approach is burdened by the addition of an extra intermediate header of perhaps 20 to 28 bytes to every protected packet, which doubles the bandwidth overhead of protected traffic compared with ESP. Also see ISAKMP.
Smart Energy Network Alliance A partnership, founded by Novell and UtiliCorp United Inc. and open to other companies, to develop and market applications that allow users to optimize their energy usage in real time. See NEST.
SO Security Officer. A person appointed to manage some aspect of computer or network security (e.g. cryptographic keys).
social engineering Within the context of computer security, the deception of a person or persons in order to obtain information one is not authorized to have (e.g. a password).
SOCKS A proxy server software package that does not support caching but is relatively easy to install.
spider A software program employed by a search engine that automatically surveys the Web in order to expand the search engine's database of Web pages and Web sites indexed by subject.
SPKI Simple Public Key Infrastructure A less cumbersome alternative to the X.509 standard for digital certificates proposed by the IETF. (See X.509, digital certificates, and IETF in the hard copy dictionary.)
Sponsorship The purchase of space on a Web page or other online document to advertise a product or service. The word sponsorship is often used to avoid the negative connotations of the word "advertising" and to connote the original non-commercial nature of the Internet.
STC Secure Transaction Channel A patent-pending technology from V-One corporation which uses an "out of band" end-to-end security method with DES and RSA public key cryptography to conceal and transmit transaction data to credit card processors over the Internet. STC reduces the risk of merchant fraud by not allowing the merchant to view in plain text any of the financial data contained in the encrypted envelope sent by the purchaser. The data is decrypted at a decryption server used by the merchant bank or credit card processor. The U.S. Departments of State and Commerce have granted export approval to STC. See CyberWallet.
STV Sprint Telecommunications Venture. An alliance of Sprint (long distance), Teleport Communications Group (See CAP), Tele-communications Inc., Cox Communications, and Comcast (cable TV companies), which purchased the largest nationwide rights to Personal Communication Services for $2 billion. (See Personal Communication Services in the hard copy dictionary.) STV intends to provide a full set of services to both business and consumers, including wireline and wireless, and data, voice, and video.
subnetwork An IP network in which a portion of the IP address is identical across all the devices connected to the subnetwork. A subnetwork is usually separated from other networks by a router or firewall. A trusted subnetwork contains hosts and routers that trust each other not to attack each other's security and trust that the underlying communications channel (e.g., an Ethernet) isn't being attacked.
subscription service An online service, Web site, or other source of information and services which offers ongoing unrestricted access and use for a period of time for a fixed fee without regard to which particular information or services are utilized.
SVC See Switched Virtual Circuit.
SWIFT Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. A nonprofit organization that maintains a network for the international exchange of payment instructions between banks and other institutions. Payments between SWIFT member banks are handled over domestic funds clearing systems such as Fed Wire (which see in the hard copy dictionary).
Switched Virtual Circuit (SVC) A transmission media compatible with L2PT on top of which L2TP is directly encapsulated. SVC's are created as needed to support connectivity requirements between L2PT Access Concentrators and L2PT Network Servers. (See encapsulation in the hard copy dictionary.)
SYN attack A denial of service attack in which an overwhelming number of TCP connections is attempted on a particular network or server. The address from which SYN packets are sent is falsified so it cannot be traced.
Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (S-CDMA) An enhancement to CDMA that achieves high channel capacity by synchronizing multiple subscriber end-stations to a central receiver. See Code Division Multiple Access in the hard copy dictionary.
T&E card See travel and entertainment card.
TACACS+ A standard which defines the interfaces between a network access server, such as a firewall or a remote access server and a system which provides authentication, authorization, and accounting services. A TACACS+ server is a system that provides these services and supports the standard TACACS+ interfaces. TACACS+ was largely developed by Cisco Systems. Also see an alternative to TACACS+ called RADIUS. (See firewall, authentication, and authorization in the hard copy dictionary.)
TACDFIPSFKMI Technical Advisory Committee to Develop a Federal Information Processing Standard for Federal Key Infrastructure A committee established by the Secretary of Commerce to develop guidelines and technical standards for key recovery. The committee consists of twenty-four private sector cryptography experts and is assisted by government advisors.
tag A command in HTML, enclosed within the lesser than and greater than signs (<...>) which marks specified text as a heading, paragraph, list, etc. and for including images, forms which accept user input, and hypertext links within a document. Usually a start tag and end tag are paired around the content they refer to and form a "container". See element.
targeting The design of a Web site or of a marketing campaign (primarily the selection of Web sites in which advertisements are placed but also the content of the advertisements) to reach and to appeal to certain classes or types of customers. A typical consumer target market might be women, 20 to 35 years of age, with children, with household incomes over $50,000 per year, who work outside the home. A typical business target market might be persons responsible for telecommunications management in businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Some Web sites and advertising campaigns are targeted to groups with special interests (e.g. golfers, hotel managers). See demographics.
telephone banking The provision of virtually all banking services over the phone. First Direct, a division of Midland Bank in the UK, is the world's leading telephone only bank with over 500,000 customers and no branches.
third-party ad management A service to advertisers that manages the buying and placement of advertisements on the Web and the analysis of the ads' effectiveness. Also see ad management service bureau.
third-party processor A company which contracts with banks to perform some or all of the tasks necessary to process credit cards: authorizing and processing transactions for merchants, adding new cardholders, processing for cardholders, and collections. Third- party processors may be for profit or nonprofit. The largest in the United States is First Data Resources, Inc., a nonprofit third-party processor.
tiered service A combination of offerings which are priced at various levels. For example categories of information on a Web site may range from free to expensive depending on their value, timeliness, uniqueness, or other market factors. See subscription service and registration service.
timing attack An attempt to break a cipher by measuring the time a computer takes to perform cryptographic operations. (See cipher in the hard copy dictionary.)
Trade Point Engine An initiative by the United Nations to encourage the use of EDI between business partners dispersed around the globe.
trademark A name, symbol, or device used by a manufacturers of goods to identify its goods and distinguish them from goods manufactured and sold by others.
traffic Communication over a network and especially the amount of communication over a network. In network technology, traffic is usually measured in bits per second or packets per second. In Web-based marketing, traffic refers to the number of customer visits to a site or page measured in a variety of ways.
travel and entertainment card A credit card, such as American Express or Diner's Club, which is oriented to business users, generally charges a higher annual fee than a bank card and provides a substantially higher credit limit. Though T&E cards earn less interest for their issuers than do bank cards they are generally more profitable because average transaction amounts are higher and credit losses are lower.
trusted operating system The dominant security platform used by the Department of Defense and other high-security government agencies. It uses multilevel technology and contains privilege and authorization processes to control access to functions and commands. It provides an audit capability which records unsuccessful network connections, logins and logouts, use of privilege, and access violations. See CMW+.
TSTS Transaction and Switching and Transport Services. A uniform set of transaction processing communications protocols using virtual private lines developed by Bell Communications Research.
TTAP Trust Technology Assessment Program A joint effort of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Security Agency (NSA) to extend to the private sector standards supported by both for unclassified but sensitive systems.
tunneling An architecture which enables the point-to-point transmission of electronic data in a format different from the format in which it originated and was ultimately received. Tunneling can be used to send non-IP protocols (e.g. IPX, AppleTalk) over an IP network such as the Internet. It can also be used to transmit unencrypted data over the transmission media in encrypted format without requiring encryption by the host or application at either end. The Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol encapsulates the Point-to-Point Protocol for control purposes. (See IP, Internet, encryption, host, application, Point-to-Point Protocol, and encapsulation in the hard copy dictionary.)
UNCID Uniform Rules of Conduct for Interchange of Trade Data by Teletransmission. A set of voluntary guidelines published by the International Chamber of Commerce for the use of EDI and particularly EDIFACT (which see in the hard copy dictionary).
unique visitor An individual who views a Web site during a specified period of time (e.g. a day, a month). A Web site's log file can approximate the number of unique visitors during a given period by using cookies to identify PC's which visit the site multiple times and using IP addresses to identify multiple visits from the same domain. See IP address and domain in the hard copy dictionary.
USMARC A machine-readable cataloging record used by libraries. With millions of documents already indexed, a simplified version of USMARC is a candidate to become the dominant approach to metadata on the Internet.
viewer See helper.
virtual bank A bank that serves consumers over the Internet and through automated teller machines without establishing branch banks or any walk-in banking facilities. See bank and automated teller machine in the hard copy dictionary.
virtual bank branch A three dimensional representation on the Internet of a bank branch office which allows customers to obtain information and conduct many of the transactions possible at an actual branch bank. The Electronic Courtyard is an implementation of a virtual bank branch by Visa International and Worlds Inc. using a version of VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language - see definition in hard copy of dictionary).
virtual dialup Dialup access to the Internet that supports the use of unregistered IP addresses and the use of multiple protocols. It allows users of many different protocols (e.g. IP, IPX, AppleTalk) to share common network access (particularly remote access) facilities such as modems, Network Access Servers and ISDN routers. (See IP address, protocol, remote access, modem, and ISDN in the hard copy dictionary.)
virtual POP A point of presence that supports an Internet Service Provider's customers but is actually provided by a Network Service Provider. The ISP contracts with the NSP to provide the POP.
virtual safe deposit box A service that provides secure online storage of important or confidential electronic documents.
visit The act of accessing and viewing a World Wide Web site.
visitor An individual who views a Web site. See visit and unique visitor.
voice over IP Technology that supports the transmission of voice over networks running the IP protocol, such as the Internet, with sufficient speed and continuity to permit two-way conversations such as a telephone call. The voice quality is not as good as standard telephone calls placed over the Public Switched Telephone Network but the cost of calls using voice over IP is extremely low regardless of distance. See IP telephony.
VPI Virtual Private Internet A creation of TradeWave Corporation which sets up a private network running over the Internet by incorporating a security system that recognizes only a given company's offices and personnel as being on the network. VPI's can be extended to selected customers and suppliers. A VPI is less expensive to set up and operate than a private wide area network (WAN) or, for EDI, a value added network (VAN), but does not provide the audit trail and management information provided by a WAN or VAN. (See WAN, VAN, and EDI in the hard copy dictionary.)
VPL Virtual Private Line. A telephone company service which appears to the customer to be a dedicated line but is provided at a lower cost than a true dedicated line because it actually switches traffic over shared circuits.
VSAT Very small aperture satellite antenna. Earth-based satellite antennas generally less than 24 inches in diameter which are relatively inexpensive and are widely used by retailers for communicating credit card verification and other information to company headquarters.
walled garden An approach planned by cable TV companies to offer free access, through the TV screen and a remote control device, to a limited set of Web sites, pages, and services. The approach will support localization of the offered Web sites and will allow the cable operators to charge merchants for making their Web sites available through the free service. For unlimited access to the World Wide Web consumers will need to pay a fee.
web As defined by John Hagel III of McKinsey & Company, a set of companies which collaborate around a particular technology, such as the Microsoft/Intel PC web, and the Web surrounding Netscape Internet software. Webs require a technological standard and increasing returns to scale but work without formal alliances. They spread risk, reduce complexity, and enhance an industry's overall ability to innovate. (For World Wide Web see the hard copy dictionary.)
Web Request Broker Oracle's API for linking its WebServer to applications and databases. Web Request Broker bypasses the Common Gateway Interface (which see in the hard copy dictionary). It enables a high-performance native connection to Oracle7 databases. Web Request Broker supports development languages such as Java, PL/SQL and C/C++, and provides an open API (which see in the hard copy dictionary) for building server objects to extend Oracle WebServer capabilities.
Web year Like a dog year, a Web year is approximately one seventh of a calendar year. It refers to the period during which business practices on the Web evolve as much as practices in any other environment evolve in a standard year.
Web-based E-mail A method of providing E-mail that requires a user to log into a Web site to send and retrieve E-mail, rather than using the domain name and mail server on the network the user's computer is connected to (frequently the domain name mail server of the user's Internet Service Provider). Mail messages are stored on the E-mail Web site, freeing up storage space on the user's hard disk. Web-based E-mail allows the user to easily access E-mail from any computer connected to the Internet, regardless of location or type of connection. See E-mail, Web site, domain name, server, and Internet Service Provider in the hard copy dictionary.
Web-wrap agreement An agreement to abide by the terms of a license agreement signified by downloading the software to which the license agreement applies. If the license is not provided for review prior to the download the agreement is generally held to be unenforceable.
webcasting The broadcasting of information over the Internet using server push technology. The most common form of netcasting.
Webertising Advertising on the World Wide Web.
Weblet A competitor to Java (which see) from Eolas Technologies which provides an interactive environment for Web applications written in Perl (which see) and Safe-Tcl/Tk.
WebSpace A helper application from Silicon Graphics and Template Graphics which allows Web browsers to view three dimensional space modeled in VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language - see definition in hard copy of dictionary).
WebSTONE Benchmarking software developed by Silicon Graphics for measuring the performance of Web servers responding to a variety of client requests (straight HTML, CGI, and proprietary API) and serving a variable number of simulated clients. WebSTONE initiates the client requests and measures throughput, connections per second, average response time, and error rate. It runs entirely on client workstations and can therefore be used to measure the performance of any Web server. (See Web, server, client, CGI, and API in the hard copy dictionary.)
webtone The concept of providing access to the World Wide Web with the availability, reliability, performance, and ease of access that are currently provided by the Public Switched Telephone Network and which are signified by dialtone.
WHOIS++ An Internet search architecture developed by Bunyip Information Systems which relies on a search protocol intended to be compatible with the X.500 directory service.
X.435 A standard which enhances the ITU-TSS/ISO family of X.400 messaging protocols to better support electronic data interchange (EDI).
X9.17 An ANSI specification for private key encryption widely used by banks and government agencies. (See private key in the hard copy dictionary)
X9.9 FIMAS An ANSI standard for protecting electronic funds transfers (which see in the hard copy dictionary). See FIMAS
xDSL See Other Digital Subscriber Line.
XFDL See Extensible Forms Description Language.
xlapse The number of people who are denied access to the Internet at any one time multiplied by the number of hours service is denied (as in megalapse, gigalapse). The term was coined in 1996 by Bob Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, to measure an interruption in service so devastating it would destroy the public's trust in the Internet by the end of the year. Incidents occurring earlier in 1996 included Netcom's denial of service to 400,000 customers for thirteen hours and America Online's taking 6.2 million users down for nineteen hours.
XML See Extensible Markup Language.
Z39.50 An ANSI standard query routing protocol for searching the Internet based on the client/server model. Z39.50 is the basis for the WAIS search approach. It supports retention of the search history. See metadata.
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