Earthnet: The modern adaptation of the Internet, with access globally available in every nook and cranny of the planet.

VE: A Virtual Environment, often called 'a Virtual' for short.

The Virtual: A shorthand term for the underlying public network of connected virtual environments interwoven within Earthnet; individual virtual environments are known as 'Virtuals' or 'a Virtual' to distinguish them from the network at large.

Fileshare: An accessible database or file system, represented within a VE in a manner conducive to the environment (a filing cabinet for an office, for example.)

DS: A decisecond. Time lapses within a Virtual environment at a speed based on the host computer and connecting rigs; as a result, most VEs are set to operate in deciseconds; a Virtual browser will perceive ten seconds of time within the Virtual for every second of real time. This is usually maintainable on most systems and is the typical standard of VR rigs.

VS: A virtusecond. Systems not operating under Earthnet Virtual standard time instead operate on virtuseconds, where the ratio of virtual time to real time depends on the actual speed of the equipment involved; as such, one second of realtime may be a smaller or larger number of virtuseconds. Most rigs are equipped with safety warnings to note when a Virtual is running on VS instead of DS, and provide additional warnings if VS is slower than 5 virtualtime seconds per realtime second.

Protocol: All interactions within Virtuals are encrypted so that (in theory, anyhow) nobody can perform man-in-the-middle attacks and radically change the appearance or behavior of the Virtual without actually being connected to the environment manager. These encryption methods are known as Protocols. Most standard Virtuals use a common company Protocol that is freely available (or available on a subscription basis) to provide access to any of their public content. Usually, corporations use different Protocols for their internal networks; it's generally considered bad for business if the security training virtuals are compromised by bored hackers, and the simplest way to keep them out is to make the network they connect to use an entirely different security protocol. On the other hand, by monitoring a machine that is currently connected to a network and comparing protocol-encrypted transmissions with what is known to be occurring on the sending machine, one can figure out how the Protocol is being used works, even if the protocol in question is connected via a smartcard or similar item rather than being software based.

Guest Protocol: A specific type of protocol provided to guests of the system (ie, those without legitimate accounts). This is typically used for public browsing (as distinct from remote access by authorized users) or access to demonstration software); guest protocols have inherent limited access to system assets. Some companies have multiple protocols specific to security clearance levels; for example, a company might have a guest protocol for casual browsers, a customer-level protocol for customer accounts, a user-level protocol for employees, a security-level protocol for the security department, department-specific protocols for employees that require elevated access to a specific department, admin-level protocols for network administrators, a system-level protocol for access that is (ideally) only used by the operating system, and even a root-level protocol for local emergency use should the operating system be corrupted or compromised.

Rootkit: A program that has root-level access to the system, which typically supercedes the access of the operating system itself. Rootkits can enable 'jailbreaking' or 'rooting' devices whose operating system places artificial limitations on the capabilities of the owner/user or perform unwanted activities that the owner/user wishes to remove, and can also be used to perform activities that the operating system cannot directly monitor and control. Commonly used with uplinks and other computerized gadgets to expand their range of utility (such as unlocking a gun's targeting computer so that it can play music when the firearm OS normally doesn't encourage such frivolous uses of its capacity). Possibly illegal depending on the usage, and often mercilessly targeted by manufacturers who prefer to maintain absolute control over the usage of their products, or hackers who look for vulnerabilities in rootkits to turn to their own advantage. Potentially hazardous as you have to trust that whoever made the rootkit has your own best interests in heart and will not use it to harm you or your property. Occasionally installed by otherwise legitimate software without the user's knowledge, which makes the corporate usage of rootkits equally unpopular.

ORBit: A publicly provided service by Anonymouse Industries in collaboration with thousands of volunteers that provide onion servers for people interested in maintaining online anonymity. Operates via onion routing, making it very difficult to trace a connection path, and has variable-hop configurability. Latency is usually low, although it is estimated that approximately 15% of online users route traffic of some form or another through ORBit. ORBit frequently updates to ensure that it remains ahead of modern cryptoanalysis techniques, and includes its own form of detective ICE to warn against intrusions and monitoring attempts. ORBit onion servers do not log activity, and information about the path of a connection is generally limited to the duration of the connection. It is often used in collusion with proxy systems and VPN tunnels to improve Earthnet anonymity. Hackers sometimes take advantage of it as well; although the latency involved tends to limit cyberdecker activity, it does provide an extra level of protection against locating the source of a message or activity.

NIDAS: The National Information Data Analysis System is a product of the National Security Agency designed to interpret traffic and data patterns in an ongoing effort to stop criminal and terrorist activity on a federal level, and regularly disseminates information on request to local law enforcement jurisdictions. It is believed that NIDAS is capable of monitoring all unsecured information traffic as well as recording a large volume of secured information traffic for offline decryption.

LAN: Local Area Network.

WAN: Wide Area Network.

DSP: Digital Service Provider. The modern version of an ISP (internet service provider).

Modem: This device is usually provided by an DSP and acts as a gateway between a LAN and the larger WAN of the Internet. It serves as a router and occasionally a firewall, and may allow wireless connections.

Router: This device acts as a traffic manager for a network zone, keeping routing tables, assigning IP addresses, and providing access between separate subnets.

Subnet: A distinct cluster of networked machines within a larger local area network.

Firewall: A device specifically intended to monitor, log, and prevent unauthorized connections.

Hub: A hardware connection point that interfaces multiple connections, but does not provide routing information or other utility.

Gateway: General term for a device that connects a subnet to the main network or another subnet, sometimes with features specific to what it is providing access to.

Device: A physical device connected to the network, such as a printer, door control, camera, etc. Usually, devices such as cameras or doors connect to a central control system rather than directly to the network; the control system acts as a gateway.

Server: Acts as a master processing unit for a network, handling requests from individual workstations, storing files, handling internal mail and queues, etc. Small companies may use only one, while larger ones may have purpose-built servers for each department or company function.

Storage Unit: Device specifically intended for network storage, accessible through the network.

UDT: Universal Data Transfer. While 'Universal Serial Bus' (USB) cables are so last-century, the modern standard is similar, if much higher-speed; mini-UDT and micro-UDT cables are likewise the effective equivalent of their USB counterparts in modern computing. UDT interfaces are capable of transmitting data and energy, and as such are the standard method for powering and connecting small peripherals to larger machines, building networks, etc. One new innovation is the Macro-UDT cable, which essentially is a power cable for connecting to building power while also using the internal power grid as an internal network. This is commonly used in closed environments (space stations, corporate offices, and arcologies) as well as ultra-modern cities; most less-than-cutting-edge places use normal UDT cables alongside standard power cords instead.