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Audit Trail  The presence of media and procedures that allow a transaction to be traced through all stages of information processing, beginning with its appearance on a source document and ending with its transformation into information in a final output document.
Backup Files  Files that have been copied and stored via a backup process to protect against damage or loss of the original files.
Business Ethics  An area of philosophy concerned with developing ethical principles and promoting ethical behavior and practices in the accomplishment of business tasks and decision making.
Computer Crime  Criminal actions accomplished through the use of computer systems, especially with intent to defraud, destroy, or make unauthorized use of computer system resources.
Computer Matching  Using computers to screen and match data about individual characteristics provided by a variety of computer-based information systems and databases to identify individuals for business, government, or other purposes.
Computer Monitoring  Using computers to monitor the behavior and productivity of workers on the job and in the workplace.
Computer Virus or Worm  Program code that copies its destructive program routines into the computer systems of anyone who accesses computer systems that have used the program, or anyone who uses copies of data or programs taken from such computers. This spreads the destruction of data and programs among many computer users. Technically, a virus will not run unaided but must be inserted into another program, whereas a worm is a distinct program that can run unaided.
Disaster Recovery  Methods for ensuring that an organization recovers from natural and human-caused disasters that have affected its computer-based operations.
Distributed Denial of Service  A malicious attack on a computer system by using a wide distribution of computers to simultaneously and continuously send requests to a single computer or website thus making legitimate requests almost impossible to accommodate.
Distributed Processing  A form of decentralization of information processing made possible by a network of computers dispersed throughout an organization. Processing of user applications is accomplished by several computers interconnected by a telecommunications network, rather than relying on one large centralized computer facility or on the decentralized operation of several independent computers.
Encryption  To scramble data or convert them, prior to transmission, to a secret code that masks the meaning of the data to unauthorized recipients. Similar to enciphering.
Ergonomics  The science and technology emphasizing the safety, comfort, and ease of use of human-operated machines such as computers. The goal of ergonomics is to produce systems that are user-friendly: safe, comfortable, and easy to use. Ergonomics is also called human factors engineering.
Firewall  Computers, communications processors, and software that protect computer networks from intrusion by screening all network traffic and serving as a safe transfer point for access to and from other networks.
Hacking  (1) Obsessive use of a computer. (2) The unauthorized access and use of computer systems.
Security Management  Protecting the accuracy, integrity, and safety of the processes and resources of an inter-networked e-business enterprise against computer crime, accidental or malicious destruction, and natural disasters, using security measures such as encryption, firewalls, antivirus software, fault tolerant computers, and security monitors.
Software Piracy  Unauthorized copying of software.
Spamming  A process in which a single advertiser sends thousands of messages to computer users without their permission. The computer version of junk mail.
Spyware  Also called Adware.







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