Glossary

AES	Advanced Encryption Standard is the successor to the existing Data Encryption Standard (DES).
API	Application Program Interface. See also Win32 API.
Algorithm	A procedure or formula for solving a problem.
ATOM (windows)	In Windows, an atom table is a system-defined table that stores strings and their corresponding identifiers. The application places a string in an atom table and receives a 16-bit integer called an atom. A string that has been placed in an atom table is called an atom name. The global atom table is available to all applications and can be used to share information between those applications. The local atom table is used only by one application and can be used to manage large numbers of strings. For more information see MSDN Atoms
Attacker	Attackers are those who attempt to steal, destroy or otherwise access data or information. The term attackers generally refers to those from whom data should be protected.
bit	Short for binary digit, a bit is the smallest unit of data in a computer. It has a single binary value that is either a 0 or a 1. Typically bits are grouped into multiples of eight bits called a byte. In computer memory the value of a bit is usually stored as an electrical charge in a single capacitor that is either above or below a designated level. Bits are generally expressed using the lower case b. For example 10 mbps means 10 megabits per second.
Byte	In most computer systems, a byte is a unit of data that is eight binary digits (or bits) long. It is used by most computers to represent a single character such as a letter, number, or typographic symbol. Bytes are differentiated from bits by generally expressing them using upper case B.
Cipher	Cipher refers to the method of encryption used to encrypt a message thereby concealing it. Sometimes the term cipher is used to refer to the encrypted text message itself although the term ciphertext is more widely preferred.
Ciphertext	Ciphertext is encrypted text. It is the actual encrypted message that results from the encryption process.
Cryptanalysis	Cryptanalysis is the study of breaking cryptographic systems. The cryptanalyst looks for weaknesses in the cryptographic algorithm to break the algorithm faster. Many cryptanalysists are employed by the crypto community to reveal potential weaknesses and help correct them before they are discovered by attackers.
Cryptography	The art of secret writing. For a more detailed explanation see Cryptography – an Introduction
Decryption	Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be understood.
DES	Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a popular method of data encryption using a private (secret) key. Both the sender and the receiver must know and use the same private key. The DES standard has recently been replaced by AES
Encryption	Encryption is the conversion of data into a form, called a ciphertext, that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized people. It is the process of scrambling text using a special key so that it can only be unscrambled decrypted by the intended reader.
Factor	Factors are the divisors of a given integer (or polynomial etc.). A factor is the divisor of a given integer or polynomial. For integers, the determination of factors is called prime factorization. For large quantities, the determination of all factors is usually very difficult.
Factorization	The determination of factors (divisors) of a given integer, polynomial etc. In prime factorization, factorization is unique, and gives the "simplest" representation of a given quantity in terms of smaller parts.
Handle	A unique identifier that references objects. Also see Windows Handle.
Hook	A hook, when used in programs, is an interface (usually found in pre-packaged code) that allows a programmer to insert customized code. See also Windows Hooks.
IP Spoofing	IP spoofing is a technique employed by those seeking to attack a secure system. The attacker attempts to establish a connection with a computer in such a manner that the computer thinks it is communicating with a trusted host computer. Typically the attacker obtains the IP address of a trusted computer and pretends to be that computer by claiming to be located at the trusted computer’s IP address. Many IP spoofing attacks come from outside a physical network and can be prevented by configuring routers to reject inbound traffic that claims to originate from a host within the internal network.
ItemIDList	The Windows Item Identifier List corresponds to a file system element, relative to the root of the shell namespace, which is typically the Desktop. Typically, when accessing files or folders, you refer to them by a file-system path such as C:\WINDOWS. Starting with Windows 95, Microsoft introduced virtual items that do not necessarily correspond to the file-system such as Desktop, My Computer, Network Neighborhood, My Network Places etc. The Item ID List allows you to trace a path from the root of the namespace. For example the ID list for “\\Desktop\My computer\c:\” could be expressed with an encoding of [desktop][my computer] [c:]. See also SHITEMID.
Key	An encryption key is the secret key or password used by the encryption algorithm to encrypt the data. The key used to decrypt the data may be the same key, as in the case of DES or a different key, as used in PKI.
SHITEMID	When using the Windows API it is sometimes necessary to use this binary data structure (record) to refer to items such as files, directories and servers. Each item has its own unique ID called the Item ID, which is defined by the SHITEMID binary data structure. This structure allows the use of items that do not necessarily correspond to a file system such as Desktop, My Computer, Network Neighborhood, My Network Places, Printers etc.
Key-Escrow	A controversy has arisen over ciphers that are essentially unbreakable without the decryption keys. Companies and customers consider strong encryption to be a means of minimizing fraud and maintaining confidentiality, Some governments consider it a potential threat because it can be used by terrorists and criminals to hide their activities. These governments want to set up a key-escrow arrangement requiring that everyone who uses a cipher would be required to provide the government with a copy of the key.
Language Identifier (Windows)	The Language Identifier (LANGID) is an unsigned 16-bit integer value that identifies a language in Windows operating systems.
Locale identifier (Windows)	In Windows, the Locale Identifier (LCID) represents an unsigned 32-bit integer value that identifies the human language preferred by a user, region, or application.
Nibble	Half a byte, or four bits.
Octet	In some computer systems, the term octet is used for an eight bit unit instead of byte .
Plaintext	Ordinary readable text before being encrypted into ciphertext or after being decrypted.
Prime Factorization	The factorization of a numbers into its constituent primes.
Prime number	A prime number is a positive integer having exactly one positive divisor other than 1. In other words a prime number is a positive integer greater than 1 that has no positive integer divisors other than itself and 1.
Rijndael	Rijndael is a block cipher, designed by Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen as a candidate algorithm for the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). It was influenced by the design of the block cipher Square. The original description of Rijndael is available at: http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~rijmen/rijndael/
Session Hijacking	Session Hijacking is similar to IP spoofing in that an attackers computer claims to be a trusted computer. The attacker searches for an existing connection between two computers and attempts to steal the session from one of the two computers, thereby gaining the access privileges from that computer.
Substitution	The process of exchanging one character or value for another. For example if the letters A and L are substituted for each other the word ALL would be encrypted to LAA. Substitution schemes range from the very simple, to the complex. Simple substitution algorithms can often be quickly broken using analysis of repeating patterns for common words.
Transposition	Transposition rearranges the order of letters. For example the phrase this is cool may be rearranged to looc si siht. In this case the transposition is a simple reversal, but modern transposition mechanisms rely on significantly more complex algorithms.
Unicode	Unicode characters are 16-bit characters and are therefore capable of supporting 2^16 or 65,636 characters.
Win32 API	The Win32 Application Program Interface is a set of literally thousands of functions available to Microsoft Windows programmers.
Windows GDI	The windows graphics device interface (GDI) provides functions and structures that an application can use to generate graphical output for displays and printers. See also MSDN Windows GDI Start Page.
Windows Handle	A control that is created with one of the windows creation functions (such as CreateWindow) is assigned a unique handle that identifies it to Windows. The handle is also accessible to your program.
Windows Hook	Microsoft Windows, support hooks and defines them as a mechanism by which a function can intercept events before they reach an application. For more information see Win32 Hooks by Kyle Marsh, Microsoft Developer Network Technology Group. See also Hook.
Windows.pas	Part of the Borland Delphi run time library this file contains a Win32 API Interface Unit. By default this file is installed into C:\Program Files\Borland\Delphi6\Source\Rtl\Win\Windows.pas.
Word	A word is a unit that a computer processor can be designed to handle efficiently as it reads and processes each instruction. In many computer systems, four bytes (32-bits) constitutes a word.