TABLE OF CONTENTS Level: 1
Definition: Refers to one of the original seven Regional Bell Operating Companies formed as a result of the divestiture of AT&T (i.e., Ma Bell) in 1984. (See also RBOC.)
Level: 2
Definition: Typically a narrowband link that takes advantage of unused bandwidth to send return signals from users back to a content provider. For example, at the same time that content providers are transmitting interactive television to their customers, users can connect through a back channel to a web site for additional information supplied from the original content provider or to an advertiser. A back channel can be used by customers to provide feedback, purchase goods and services, or access a wide variety of supplementary information. A simple type of back channel is the telephone modem connection from a PC to the Internet. (See also Interactive Television.)
Level: 2
Definition: A hole in a security system intentionally left there by the system designer. For example, programmers who design a computer security system might embed a special user name and password in the system that becomes part of the security program. Because the design team knows this special user name and password, they could access a system running their security program through the back door. Although back doors are sometimes intended to allow for convenient access to a system by those who build and maintain it, they can also be a liability enabling malicious hackers...
