Glossary
This is the Glossary for Totem’s course How to bypass Internet censorship
Circumvention: Various methods and tools to bypass internet censorship.
Computer: A device, usually electronic, that processes data according to a set of instructions. The digital computer stores data in discrete units and performs arithmetical and logical operations at very high speed.
Data: Individual facts, statistics or items of information. Everything you send across the internet is data.
Data Cap (or bandwidth cap): A service provider-imposed limitation on the amount of data transferred by a user at a specified level of throughput over a given time period, for a specified fee.
Device: A machine or tool used for a specific task, like a computer or a mobile phone.
Decryption: The act of applying a key to convert an encrypted text back to plain text.
Encryption: The act of taking plain text and a key and converting it into an encoded text.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): A protocol that allows communication between different systems. Often used to transfer data from a server to a browser in order to view webpages.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS): A protocol that uses a SSL-certificate to create a secure encrypted connection between the server and the browser.
Information Security: A process of maintaining confidentiality, ensuring integrity and assuring the availability of data you want to protect.
Internet: A global system of interconnected computer networks that use protocols to link devices, enabling them to receive or transmit information.
Internet Exchange Point (IXP): The physical infrastructure through which an Internet service providers (ISPs) exchange Internet traffic between their networks. The exchange between two participants on an IXP is facilitated by a gateway protocol routing configurations between them.
Internet Service Provider (ISP): A company that provides internet access.
Internet Protocol (IP): The method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another over the internet. Each computer (known as a node) on the internet has at least one IP address that is unique and differs from all other computers’ IP addresses on the internet.
Internet Protocol address (IP address): A numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication (like 213.108.108.217).
Mail server: A provider of email hosting that implements email servers to send, receive, accept, and store email for other organisations or end users, on their behalf.
Malware: A harmful computer program that has been designed for spying or stealing information or data.
Network: A collection of nodes capable of receiving and transmitting information.
On-path Attack: Formerly known as "Man-In-The-Middle-Attack". Action where a third party can collect information as well as impersonate two other agents that are communicating, exchanging information.
Open Source: A method of releasing a computer program and the code in a way that is publicly available to everyone.
Permissions: Authorisations that govern what your app is allowed to do and access on your device (for example your contacts, gallery, camera, or folders).
Proxy: A computer system or an application which acts as an intermediary to get access to computer network from other server(s).
Security Audit: A computer security audit is a manual or systematic measurable technical assessment of a system or application.
Server: A computer that makes services available to workstations on a network, such as hosting websites, and giving access to data files, programs, and peripheral devices.
Software: Anything that is not hardware but is used with hardware. Programs that can be used with a particular computer system.
Transport Layer Security (TLS): A cryptographic protocol that provides communications security over a computer network to establish an encrypted link between a server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the server and browser remains private and integral.
Tunnel: In this course we use the word “tunnel” as a metaphor to explain how a circumvention tool can bypass censorship. However, it is important to keep in mind that not all circumvention tools use tunnellingthe technical “tunnel” as a method of bypassing censorship.
User: A person who uses a computer.
Virtual Private Network (VPN): A private network across a public network, which enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network.
Wifi: The name of a popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections.