Online Privacy Technical Details

Question 1

HTTP

Answer 1

Hypertext transfer protocol
An application protocol that manages data communications over the internet, defines how messages are formatted and transmitted over a TCP/IP network for websites.

Defines what actions web servers and web browsers take in response to various commands

Question 2

HTML

Answer 2

Hypertext markup language
A content authoring language used to create webpages. The web browser interprets the HTML markup language within a web page to determine how the content on the page should be rendered
Describes the content of a web page in terms of how it should be displayed

Question 3

HTTPS

Answer 3

Hyper text transfer protocol secure

Allows the transfer of data from a browser to a website over an encrypted connection.

Question 4

HTML5

Answer 4

Has the ability to run video audio and animation directly from websites without the need for a plug-in ( software that runs in the browser)
Increases security
Ability to Store information offline in web applications that can run when not connected to the internet

Question 5

XML

Answer 5

Extensible markup language
Facilitated the transport creation retrieval and storage of documents.
Uses tags to describe the contents of a web page or file
Describes the content of a web page in terms of the data that is being produced enabling automatic processing of data in large volumes and necessitating attention to privacy issues

Question 6

URL

Answer 6

Uniform resource locations
The address of documents and other content that are located on a web server.
Example: https://www.iapp.org
Https indicates the protocol
WWW signifies a location on the World Wide Web
Domain name Iapp
Top level domain - com (commercial organization or org for an organization or gov for government)

Question 7

Hyperlink

Answer 7

Used the connect an end user to other websites, the url of another site is embedded in the HTML code of a site.

Question 8

Web server

Answer 8

A computer that is connected to the internet, hosts web content and is configured to share that content.
Documents viewed on the web are actually located on an individual web server and accessed by a browser

Question 9

Proxy server

Answer 9

Intermediary server that provides a gateway to the web
Masks what’s is happening behind the organizations firewall so that an outside website only sees the IP address and not detailed information.
Lots used interaction, filters out malicious software downloads and caches popular content

Question 10

VPN

Answer 10

Virtual private network
A category of a proxy server, used in the US for employee web access
VPN encrypts the information from the user to the organizations proxy server thus masking from the ISP both the content and web destinations of that use

Question 11

Caching

Answer 11

When web browsers and proxy servers save a local copy of the downloaded content, reducing the need to download the same content again from the web server

Question 12

Web server log

Answer 12

Logs created by a web server when a visitor requests a web page.
Examples of items logged are IP address of the visitor, date and time of the web page request, uRL of the requested file, the URL of visited immediately prior to the web page request, web browser type and operating system

Question 13

IP

Answer 13

Internet protocol (IP address)
Specifies the format of data packet that travels over the internet and provides the appropriate addressing protocol 
A unique number assigned to each connected device 
Shows where data should be sent from the website

Question 14

ISP

Answer 14

Internet service provider
Assigns a new IP address on a session by session basis or a dynamic IP address
A static IP address remains the same over time for a particular device
A website can use the static IP address as a way to recognize a device that returns to the site

Question 15

TCP

Answer 15

Transmission Control Protocol
Enables two devices to establish a stream oriented reliable data connection. A combination of TCP and IP is used to send data over the internet

Question 16

TLS

Answer 16

Transport layer security
Protocol that ensures privacy between a user and a web server
When a server and a client communicate, TLS secures the connection to ensure that no third party eavesdrop on of corrupt the message

Question 17

JavaScript

Answer 17

A scripting language used to produce a more interactive and dynamic website
Common risks can arise from the use of JavaScript should be a concern that security professionals should review

Question 18

CSS

Answer 18

Cascading style sheets

The language used to describe the presentation of web pages, this includes colors layout and font

Question 19

Flash

Answer 19

A bandwidth friendly interactive animation and video technology that has been widely used to enliven web pages and advertisements
Compatibility and security concerns have led to a decrease in use