DES (data encryption standard) - is a block encryption method originally developed by IBM. It has since been certified by the U.S. government for transmission of any data that is not classified top secret. DES uses an algorithm for doing private-key encryption. The key consists of 64 bits of data, which are transformed and combined with the first 64 bits ofthe message to be sent. To do the encryption, the message is broken up into 64-bit blocks so that each can be combined with the key using a complex 16-step process. DES is a very weak encryption standard and shouldn't be used for senstive data.

Encryption - Encryption is the process of changing data into a form that can be read only by the intended receiver. To decipher the message, the receiver of the encrypted data must have the proper decryption key. In traditional encryption schemes, the sender and the receiver use the same key to encrypt and decrypt data. Public-key encryption schemes use two keys: a public key, which anyone may use, and a corresponding private key, which is possessed only by the person who created it. With this method, anyone may send a message encrypted with the owner's public key, but only the owner has the private key necessary to decrypt it. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and DES (data encryption standard) are two of the most popular public-key encryption schemes. For more information go to http://security.tao.ca/crypt_basics.html

Firewall - protects any networked server or computer from outside interference. It may either be a piece of hardware or a software program that blocks outside connections to your machine. With more and more home computers permanently connected to the internet through cable and adsl, software firewalls are becoming increasingly popularized.

Ghosts - are residual traces of data left when overwritten by other data. When you simply put something in the trash and empty it - there will be ghosts of your original data left behind. For more information on ghosts and secure file-wiping go to http://security.tao.ca/wipe.shtml

Mail-to-News Gateway - allows you to post to newsgroups via e-mail. These gateways are basically anonymous remailers that post your message to the selected news group.

Passphrase - is generally longer than a password and includes letters, number and random characters. In encrypted communications, one should always use a passphrase rather than a password. For a 128 bit cipher if your passphrase is completely random you will need a minimum of 20 characters

PGP - stands for Pretty Good Privacy which is a program that can be run in any computer environment to facilitate the encryption of data such as email and other text files. With PGP you can encrypt email to other PGP users, and you can also encrypt data on your hard disk so that it is only readable by yourself or others with the passphrase. For more information go to http://security.tao.ca/pgpnow.shtml

Remailer - a computer service which privatizes your e-mail. A remailer is in sharp contrast to the average Internet Service Provider [ISP] which is terribly anti-private. An anonymous remailer allows you to send electronic mail to a Usenet news group, or to a person, without revealing your true name or e-mail address to the recipient. For more information on various types of remailers go to http://security.tao.ca/email.shtml

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) - SSL is a transaction security standard developed to enable secure, encrypted transactions to take place over the otherwise notoriously nonsecure Internet. Connections always use the prefix https:// (Secure HTTP) instead of http://. For more information check out http://security.tao.ca/ssl.shtml.

SSH - SSH is a protocol that allows you to encrypt all data travelling from your computer to your server or other computer using different types of encryption algorithms.The server you are connecting to must be running SSH, and you must be running a secure shell client on your own machine as well. For more information - go to http://security.tao.ca/ssh.shtml

Steganography - takes one piece of information and hides it within another. Computer files (images, sounds recordings, even disks) contain unused or insignificant areas of data. Steganography takes advantage of these areas, replacing them with information (encrypted mail, for instance). The files can then be sent or transported without anyone knowing what really lies inside of them. For more information go to http://security.tao.ca/stego.shtml

Trojan - It "is a piece of unauthorized code hidden within a legitimate program (101)." Trojans can carry viruses and other programs that may damage your computer once you run the program that the trojan is hidden in. Trojan horses may be either simple batch files or code containing redirected escape sequences intercepted by the ANSI.SYS driver.

Tunneling - Tunneling is a way to channel communications between a server and a remote user. Secure methods of tunneling involve encryption.

Usenet - Usenet is a worldwide network of thousands of Unix systems with a decentralized administration. The Usenet systems exist to transmit postings to special-interest newsgroups covering just about any topic you can imagine. Newsgroups can be thought of as public-access bulletin boards and can be accessed via the web or newsgroup reader software.

Web Proxies - can be used to help you remain anonymous on the web. They are essentially servers that allow your data connection to run through them, thus hiding your IP address -- so the web site you are visiting only sees the IP address of the proxy that delivered the pages. For more information check out http://security.tao.ca/web.shtml.