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SSL Certificates
A URL that begins with “https://” (instead of “http://”) indicates that information is being transmitted over a
secure connection and the company has been issued an Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate.
Cable modem
A modem supplied by a cable television operator that allows users to access the Internet or other information services over cable television networks, which comprise broadband coaxial cables and are capable of much greater speed than conventional twisted pair copper telephone lines.
Telecommunications Act of 1996
A law passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Clinton that extensively revises and updates the 1934 Communications Act, heretofore the principal law governing U.S. communications industries.
Search engine
Software that allows a user to search networked computers for data files according to subject matter or names, depending on how the files are labelled, and present themselves to the network.
Bit
A "binary digit," the smallest unit of measurement having values of 0 or 1. Bits are used to record the size of a data file on a computer, the capacity per second of a network, and so on.
Analog
The transmission of sound and visual information in the form of waves in the frequency spectrum. For example, in an analog telephone transmission the human voice is transmitted as sound waves that can be detected by the ear.
Cyber-cash
On the Internet, customers often purchase products or services by giving their credit card information to a supplier, who then submits a debit to the customer's account with a credit card agency. Cyber-cash provides a new alternative, for which no one standard approach is dominant.
Redirecting the URL
A URL can be further obscured by using a redirection service. Some fraudsters have even gone to the effort to redirect their URL twice.
Browser software
The multimedia software employed by users to access the World Wide Web, the aspect of the Internet that transmits pictures, sound, etc. At present, the most popular "browsers" include Mosaic, Netscape, and Microsoft Explorer. Users can download these "browsers" from computer "servers" that are connected to the Internet.
Fiber optic cable
A type of wire-line transmission media that converts information into light pulses that travel down hollow glass tubes the diameter of a human hair. Fiber optic cables are used in broadband networks, and are capable of carrying an enormous amount of information in all its forms --sound, graphics, data, and video, or a multimedia combination thereof -- with much greater speed, accuracy, and security than conventional copper wires and coaxial cables.
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