Terminology
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Backdoor*
A Remote Control Software used to allow remote access or control of computer systems. It can be used to turn a user’s machine into a mass mailer or soldier for DDoS attack or a host for malicious or inappropriate content; it is stealing cycles and other resources; can slow machines down; may be associated with loss of data; and may cause personal information to be shared widely or allow it to be stolen. It may allow remote technical support or troubleshooting; can provide users remote access to own data or resources.
*Anti-Spyware Coalition Definitions and Supporting Documents -
Backup authority*
A trusted application running on a secure computer that provides secondary storage for the session keys of its clients. The backup authority stores session keys as key BLOBs that are encrypted with the backup authority`s public key.
*http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/secgloss/security/security_glossary.asp -
Base content type
A type of data contained in a PKCS #7 message. Base content types only contain data, no cryptographic enhancements such as hashes or signatures. Currently, the only base content type is the Data content type.
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Base cryptographic functions
The lowest level of functions in the CryptoAPI architecture. They are used by applications and other high-level CryptoAPI functions to provide access to CSP-provided cryptographic algorithms, secure key generation, and secure storage of secrets.
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Basic Encoding Rules
(BER) The set of rules used to encode ASN.1 defined data into a stream of bits (zeros or ones) for external storage or transmission. A single ASN.1 object may have several equivalent BER encodes. BER is defined in CCITT Recommendation X.209. This is one of the two encoding methods currently used by CryptoAPI.
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Big endian
A memory or data format in which the most significant byte is stored at the lower address or arrives first.
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BLOB
A generic sequence of bits that contain one or more fixed-length header structures plus context specific data.
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Block cipher
A cipher algorithm that encrypts data in discrete units (called blocks), rather than as a continuous stream of bits. The most common block size is 64 bits. For example, DES is a block cipher.
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Bulk encryption key
A session key derived from a master key. Bulk encryption keys are used in Schannel (A security package that provides authentication between clients and servers) encryption.
