The objects fall into two broad categories: resources ( e. g., printers ) and security principals ( user or computer accounts and groups ).

This property can be useful, for instance to test for the presence of humans as with CAPTCHAs, and for computer security to circumvent brute-force attacks.

In computer security and programming, a buffer overflow, or buffer overrun, is an anomaly where a program, while writing data to a buffer, overruns the buffer's boundary and overwrites adjacent memory.

* Ring ( computer security )

* Hacker ( computer security ), the defeating of security devices in computer networks

Many ciphers are based on publicly known algorithms or are open source, and so it is only the difficulty of obtaining the key that determines security of the system, provided that there is no analytic attack ( i. e., a ' structural weakness ' in the algorithms or protocols used ), and assuming that the key is not otherwise available ( such as via theft, extortion, or compromise of computer systems ).

If a suitably sized quantum computer capable of running Grover's algorithm reliably becomes available, it would reduce a 128-bit key down to 64-bit security, roughly a DES equivalent.

This implies that at least a 160-bit symmetric key is required to achieve 80-bit security rating against a quantum computer.

This is due to security shortcomings on the target computer.

Use of protected memory greatly enhances both the reliability and security of a computer system.

Researchers have argued that, in most cases, security breaches are the result of user-error ( such as unintentionally downloading and executing a computer virus ).

In Cuba, if a computer user at a government controlled Internet cafe types certain words, the word processor or browser is automatically closed, and a " state security " warning is given.

Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and computer networks.

The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to remain accessible and productive to its intended users.

The term computer system security means the collective processes and mechanisms by which sensitive and valuable information and services are protected from publication, tampering or collapse by unauthorized activities or untrustworthy individuals and unplanned events respectively.

The strategies and methodologies of computer security often differ from most other computer technologies because of its somewhat elusive objective of preventing unwanted computer behavior instead of enabling wanted computer behavior.

In 2011, a French court fined Électricité de France ( EDF ) € 1. 5m and jailed two senior employees for spying on Greenpeace, including hacking into Greenpeace's computer systems.

When the term was introduced to wider society by the mainstream media in 1983, even those in the computer community referred to computer intrusion as " hacking ", although not as the exclusive use of that word.

Pressured by media coverage, congressman Dan Glickman called for an investigation and began work on new laws against computer hacking.

Neal Patrick testified before the U. S. House of Representatives on September 26, 1983 about the dangers of computer hacking, and six bills concerning computer crime were introduced in the House that year.

This includes even activities that predate computer hacking, for example reality hackers or urban spelunkers ( exploring undocumented or unauthorized areas in buildings ).

The home computer hacking subculture relates to the hobbyist home computing of the late 1970s, beginning with the availability of MITS Altair.

Since the mid-1980s, there are some overlaps in ideas and members with the computer security hacking community.

Steven Mizrach, who identifies himself with CyberAnthropologist studies, compared Levy's " Old Hacker Ethic " with the " New Hacker Ethic " prevalent in the computer security hacking community.

* The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is an Act of the UK Parliament making computer crime ( e. g. hacking ) a criminal offence.

* P. H. I. R. M., a 1980s computer hacking group originally known as Kilobaud

The term leet is also used as an adjective to describe formidable prowess or accomplishment, especially in the fields of online gaming and in its original usage, computer hacking.

* Underground ( Suelette Dreyfus book ), a 1997 nonfiction book about computer hacking

In the computer hacking scene of the 1980s, demon dialing was a technique by which a computer is used to repeatedly dial a number ( usually to a crowded modem pool ) in an attempt to gain access immediately after another user had hung up.

However, Willow establishes herself as integral to the group's effectiveness, often willing to break rules by hacking into highly secure computer systems.

As telephone networks have become computerized, phreaking has become closely linked with computer hacking.

After Johansen released DeCSS, he was taken to court in Norway for computer hacking in 2002.

If hacking as " clever computer usage / programming " is assumed, then hacktivism could be understood as the writing of code to promote political ideology: promoting expressive politics, free speech, human rights, and information ethics through software development.

Although the hacking program is easy to use, that fact does not diminish the devastating effects that Zeus ( or other software like Zeus ) can do to a computer and the user.

To protect themselves against electronic identity theft by phishing, hacking or malware, individuals are well advised to maintain computer security, for example by keeping their operating systems and web browser security fully patched against known security vulnerabilities, running antivirus software and being cautious in their use of IT.

* Phone Losers of America, the computer and telephone hacking group

He saw the film as more than just about computer hacking but something much larger: " In fact, to call hackers a counterculture makes it sound like they're a transitory thing ; I think they're the next step in human evolution.

** Hacker ( programmer subculture ), activity within the computer programmer subculture

While the self-designation of hobbyists as hackers is acknowledged by all three kinds of hackers, and the computer security hackers accept all uses of the word, people from the programmer subculture consider the computer intrusion related usage incorrect, and emphasize the difference between the two by calling security breakers “ crackers ” ( analogous to a safecracker ).

The programmer subculture of hackers disassociates from the mass media's pejorative use of the word ' hacker ' referring to computer security, and usually prefer the term ' cracker ' for that meaning.

In the programmer subculture of hackers, a computer hacker is a person who enjoys designing software and building programs with a sense for aesthetics and playful cleverness.

According to Eric S. Raymond, the Open source and Free Software hacker subculture developed in the 1960s among ‘ academic hackers ’ working on early minicomputers in computer science environments in the United States.

Within the computer programmer subculture of hackers, the term hacker is also used for a programmer who reaches a goal by employing a series of modifications to extend existing code or resources.

The main basic difference between programmer subculture and computer security hackers is their mostly separate historical origin and development.

According to Raymond, hackers from the programmer subculture usually work openly and use their real name, while computer security hackers prefer secretive groups and identity-concealing aliases.

There are some subtle overlaps, however, since basic knowledge about computer security is also common within the programmer subculture of hackers.

They commonly refer disparagingly to people in the computer security subculture as crackers, and refuse to accept any definition of hacker that encompasses such activities.

The programmer subculture of hackers has stories about several hardware hacks in its folklore, such as a mysterious ' magic ' switch attached to a PDP-10 computer in MIT's AI lab, that, when turned off, crashed the computer.

An encounter of the programmer and the computer security hacker subculture occurred at the end of the 1980s, when a group of computer security hackers, sympathizing with the Chaos Computer Club ( who disclaimed any knowledge in these activities ), broke into computers of American military organizations and academic institutions.

* Hack ( programmer subculture ), participation in a computer programmer subculture

The subjects run the gamut of the otaku subculture: the interviews cover a cosplayer who now works as a computer programmer and outright denies his cosplay days, even when presented with photographic evidence, but keeps his Char Aznable helmet in his desk drawer, an airsoft otaku, a garage kit otaku, and a shut-in who videorecords television programs for trade, but has not actually watched anything he's recorded.

The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer.

* Demoscene, a computer subculture

In addition to being tied to the Star Trek subculture, popular with computer experts and programmers, Star Trek is itself a piece of hacker lore.