Network Computer (NC): A "thin" client hardware device that executes applications locally by downloading them from the network. NCs adhere to a specification jointly developed by Sun, IBM, Oracle, Apple and Netscape. They typically run Java applets within a Java browser, or Java applications within the Java Virtual Machine.

Network Computing Architecture: A computing architecture in which components are dynamically downloaded from the network into the client device for execution by the client. The Java programming language is at the core of network computing.

Network-Level Firewall: A firewall in which traffic is examined at the network protocol packet level.

Network Worm: A program or command file that uses a computer network as a means for adversely affecting a system's integrity, reliability or availability, A network worm may attack from one system to another by establishing a network connection. It is usually a self-contained program that does not need to attach itself to a host file to infiltrate network after network.

NSA: National Security Agency. US-American governmental agency with a mandate to listen to and decode foreign communications of interest to US security. Controls the export of cryptographic products.

Nuking: A technique for causing the Windows operating system of someone you're communicating with to crash or suddenly terminate. The "nuke" is actually an out-of-band network packet containing information that the operating system can't process. This condition causes the operating system to "crash" or terminate prematurely. The operating system can usually be restarted without any permanent damage other than possible loss of unsaved data when you crashed.