Units 3 & 4 Vocab.

Question 1

server

Answer 1

a computer that knows how to pass messages to other computers

Question 2

packets

Answer 2

small pieces of info passed b/w computers

Question 3

addresses

Answer 3

’s that uniquely identify a computer on the network

Question 4

protocol

Answer 4

rules governing the transfer of info between computers

Question 5

What are servers connected by?

Answer 5

telephone poles & wires on land and cables under sea

Question 6

TCP/IP

Answer 6

Transmission Control Protocol. Internet Protocol. rules & instructions on how 2 send info over the internet.

Question 7

IP address

Answer 7

each device has one. 4 numbers, each b/w 0-255 (cuz 4 bytes). 128.244.50.1

Question 8

DNS

Answer 8

Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses

Question 9

how many possible IP addresses? is that enough?

Answer 9

abt 4 billion. no.

Question 10

IPv6

Answer 10

6 bytes. abt 281 trillion possibilities.

Question 11

man-in-the-middle attack

Answer 11

network packets r easily intercepted and changed. rogue server could manipulate communications b/w 2 individuals or just gather info.

Question 12

solution to maninmiddle attack

Answer 12

trust. only phone companies & qualified individuals are allowed to operate major internet servers. or cryptography to encode info.

Question 13

Dictionary Attack/Brute-Force Attack

Answer 13

a computer can try thousands of word or letter combinations per second to guess ur password

Question 14

bad & good passwords

Answer 14

bad = only words good = 12+ random letters & symbols

Question 15

phishing

Answer 15

type of social engineering. when an email and/or website pretends to be someone else & tries to get u to type in ur password & send it to them.

Question 16

social engineering

Answer 16

security attacks that prey on human psychology

Question 17

malware

Answer 17

programs that do bad things to ur computer or device - erase files, steal information, take pictures with ur webcam, etc.

Question 18

virus

Answer 18

most common type of malware. most comp’s come w/ anti-virus software now. free anti-v programs = AVG Free & Avast. cuz v is a program, user must download & run virus somehow. might be disguised as game/video. some take advantage of vulnerabilities in comp systems (Ex: memory stick that automatically runs when u plug it into a computer). must be created for specific operating systems.

Question 19

other types of malware

Answer 19

trojans, worms, spyware, rootkits, crimeware, zombie computer, botnet, pharming, Van Eck phreaking

Question 20

input device

Answer 20

anything that lets u interact w/ the PC Ex: keyboard, mouse, microphone

Question 21

output device

Answer 21

anything that the PC uses to show u what u did Ex: monitor/display, printer, speakers

Question 22

peripheral

Answer 22

anything connected to the computer, but not inside the case Ex: keyboard, monitor, printer

Question 23

storage devices

Answer 23

anything that stores info for the computer.

a place to put all those 1s and 0s

capacity measured in megabytes

Ex: hard disk drive, optical disc drive, USB flash drive/memory stick

Question 24

hard disk drive

Answer 24

stores info for a computer using a series of magnetic plates. a magnetic arm can read & write the info on the plates, while the plates spin. don’t put a magnet close to one. could die out of box/last a decade. predicting failure = difficult. modern capacity - 250GB - 2TB

Question 25

optical disc drive

Answer 25

bounces a laser beam off the shiny surface of a disc to read it. the reflective surface actually has microscopic pits & grooves in it to store bits.

Question 26

diff b/w CD’s, DVDs, and Blu-Ray

Answer 26

ability to fit more pits & grooves into less space using smaller wavelength lasers

rainbow - red light > green light > blue light; each wavelength = size of each hole

Question 27

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Answer 27

fast, temporary storage that the PC uses for what it’s doing at that moment comes in “sticks” capacity of 1 stick - 1-4GB Ex: opening documents, running programs, mouse pointer location

Question 28

expansion cards

Answer 28

add some kind of functionality to a PC getting getting rarer, since lots of functions (network, graphics, sound) r built in2 motherboards now (on-board)

Question 29

network card

Answer 29

allows a PC to go on a network

Question 30

graphics card

Answer 30

processes graphical info (usually 3D) for the PC

Question 31

Power Supply Unit (PSU)

Answer 31

provides power to the internal components of the computer. diff things might require diff types of connection. PSUs also have wattages - some things might require more watts than others

Question 32

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Answer 32

the part that actually performs the instructions & calculations given by programs. connected to all the other parts of the computer via the bus on the motherboard.

Question 33

motherboard (mobo)

Answer 33

connects everything together and lets the other parts communicate lots of diff places for plugging things in: slots, ports, sockets, connectors

Question 34

form factors

Answer 34

diff sizes of motherboard

Question 35

bus

Answer 35

physical connections (wires) and protocols that allow devices to communicate on motherboard

Question 36

software

Answer 36

the instructions for the computer

tells the CPU what to calculate

tells the other hardware what to do

Question 37

operating system (OS)

Answer 37

the most basic level of software

handles the low-level hardware instructions

• translating the signals from the mouse into actual cursor movements
• displaying pixels on screen
• reading & writing from a hard drive

provides an environment for other software to work

common OS’s = Microsoft Windows, Mac OSX, Linux

software for one OS won’t work on another

Question 38

drivers

Answer 38

instructions for the OS to use other devices

special additions to an OS that lets it use new hardware (usually come w/ CD or something to install the driver)

ex: an OS might not know how to use a printer until it has the right driver for it

Question 39

program

Answer 39

software that a user interacts with, that lets u do something

Ex: Microsoft Word, Mozilla Firefox

Question 40

how OS’s, programs, and drivers all work together

Answer 40

Question 41

BIOS

Answer 41

Basic Input/Output System

software built into the motherboard that runs when a PC is booting

most important thing it does = decide what storage device to use to finish booting (load an OS). will typically use hard drive, but can load an OS from ANY storage device

• a CD, DVD, or memory stick

can access by pressing Delete, F1, F2 or F10 while PC is loading (keep tapping)

Question 42

bootstrapping/booting up

Answer 42

describes a comp when it is just turned on

Question 43

command line/shell

Answer 43

early comp’s didn’t have graphics - if u wanted to do anything u would have to type commands for the comp to do

still used today.

someone proficient with the command line can navigate the comp & do some complex tasks more efficiently

Question 44

prompt

Answer 44

a sequence of characters that the shell uses to inform u that it’s ready for a command

Question 45

path

Answer 45

the folder/directory u r in

Question 46

switch/option

Answer 46

Ex: /w

changes the behavior of the command

can have 1+ switch

Question 47

read & write

Answer 47

the words used to refer to getting data from a storage device and putting data on a storage device

Question 48

Van Eck phreaking

Answer 48

the process of eavesdropping on the contents of a CRT or LCD display by detecting its electromagnetic emissions.