Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP)

An authentication method that can be used when connecting to an Internet Service Provider. CHAP allows you to login to your provider automatically, without the need for a terminal screen. It is more secure than the Password Authentication Protocol (another widely used authentication method) since it does not send passwords in text format.

CHAP

See Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol

CIX

An acronym meaning Commercial Internet Exchange

In Internet terms, it's an application that performs a specific function, such as Telnet or FTP. It's the front-end to an Internet process. In more general terms, a client is a computer system or process that requests a service of another computer system or process. The much talked about client-server architecture refers to a workstation requesting the contents of a file from a server.

Cracker

Substantially different from hackers, crackers are users who try to gain illegal access to computers. They are usually malicious in their intentions.

Cyberspace

The world of computers and the society that gathers around them, as referred to by William Gibson in his fantasy novel Neuromancer. It now loosely refers to the online world and even more loosely to the Internet.