Glossary

Adware is often combined with a host application that is provided at no charge as long as the user agrees to accept the adware. Because adware applications are usually installed after the user has agreed to a licensing agreement that states the purpose of the application, no offense is committed.

However, pop-up advertisements can become an annoyance, and in some cases degrade system performance. Also, the information that some of these applications collect may cause privacy concerns for users who were not fully aware of the terms in the license agreement.

The attacker steals credentials like usernames and passwords to gain access to the systems. For example, brute-force attacks, unauthorized authentication exploits, password stealers.

An exploit generally refers to any method used to gain unauthorized access to computers or a vulnerability in a system’s security that opens a system to an attack.

Occurs when a scanner identifies a file as infected when in fact it is not.

Unmitigated malicious activity occurring, or that has occurred, found through Investigation of a Detection or through a Hunt, which is high or critical in severity.

Inquiry documents are provided by the customer when the customer has a question for the SOC about something specific the customer has noticed happening in their environment.

Internet Protocol - A routable protocol in the TCP/IP protocol suite that is responsible for IP addressing, routing, and the fragmentation and reassembly of IP packets.

The attacker explores the network, often by moving through multiple systems, to find the main target. The attacker may use specific tools to accomplish the objective. For example: command injection exploits, Shellshock exploits, double extension exploits.

A destructive program that can access unauthorized resources.

MSA is the Master Services Agreement, the contract between Bitdefender and the Customer.

A fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information. Usually, false websites are designed to appear as trustworthy and ask the users to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers in an attempt to trick them.

An interface on a computer to which you can connect a device. Personal computers have various types of ports. Internally, there are several ports for connecting disk drives, display screens, and keyboards. Externally, personal computers have ports for connecting modems, printers, mice, and other peripheral devices.

In TCP/IP and UDP networks, an endpoint to a logical connection. The port number identifies what type of port it is. For example, port 80 is used for HTTP traffic.

A Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA) is a program that may be unwanted on the PC and sometimes comes bundled with freeware software. Such programs can be installed without the user's consent (also called adware) or will be included by default in the express installation kit (ad-supported). Potential effects of these programs include the display of pop-ups, installing unwanted toolbars in the default browser, or running several processes in the background and slowing down the PC performance.

A malware that locks you out of your computer or blocks access to your files and applications. Ransomware will demand that you pay a certain fee (ransom payment) in return for a decryption key that allows you to regain access to your computer or files.

A rootkit is a set of software tools that offer administrator-level access to a system. The term was first used for the UNIX operating systems and it referred to recompiled tools that provided intruders administrative rights, allowing them to conceal their presence so as not to be seen by the system administrators.

The main role of rootkits is to hide processes, files, logins, and logs. They may also intercept data from terminals, network connections, or peripherals if they incorporate the appropriate software.

Rootkits are not malicious in nature. For example, systems and even some applications hide critical files using rootkits. However, they are mostly used to hide malware or to conceal the presence of an intruder in the system. When combined with malware, rootkits pose a great threat to the integrity and the security of a system. They can monitor traffic, create backdoors into the system, alter files and logs and avoid detection.

Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be noted that the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come with spyware. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about email addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers.

Spyware's similarity to a Trojan horse is the fact that users unwittingly install the product when they install something else. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer file swapping products that are available today.

Aside from the questions of ethics and privacy, spyware steals from the user by using the computer's memory resources and also by eating bandwidth as it sends information back to the spyware's home base via the user's Internet connection. Because spyware is using memory and system resources, the applications running in the background can lead to system crashes or general system instability.

A destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. Unlike viruses, Trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. One of the most insidious types of Trojan horse is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer.

The term comes from a story in Homer's Iliad, in which the Greeks give a giant wooden horse to their foes, the Trojans, ostensibly as a peace offering. But after the Trojans drag the horse inside their city walls, Greek soldiers sneak out of the horse's hollow belly and open the city gates, allowing their compatriots to pour in and capture Troy.

A program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your will. Most viruses can also replicate themselves. All computer viruses are manmade. A simple virus that can copy itself over and over again is relatively easy to produce. Even such a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and bring the system to a halt. An even more dangerous type of virus is one capable of transmitting itself across networks and bypassing security systems.