so im not too smart when it comes to security. i just pretty much know the basics. im on a windows machine so i have norton, and then a password on my router to access my wireless network.

ive been reading a lot about phishing, and VPN (i think thats what it was, i cant really remember) and i just read about mobile me and the web app using SSL. which i have no clue what it is. and some guy was talking about DNS forgery attacks..
so obvoiusly im a complete noob when it comes to stuff like this, but i really would like to learn more about it.

so i guess my question is, what are these things: VPN, SSL, and DNS.
and maybe some other things lol. i guess i just want to know that what im doing on my computers in my house arent being seen by other people, like when im shopping online using credit card information etc. and nobody can get into my wireless home network.

so im not too smart when it comes to security. i just pretty much know the basics. im on a windows machine so i have norton, and then a password on my router to access my wireless network.

ive been reading a lot about phishing, and VPN (i think thats what it was, i cant really remember) and i just read about mobile me and the web app using SSL. which i have no clue what it is. and some guy was talking about DNS forgery attacks..
so obvoiusly im a complete noob when it comes to stuff like this, but i really would like to learn more about it.

so i guess my question is, what are these things: VPN, SSL, and DNS.
and maybe some other things lol. i guess i just want to know that what im doing on my computers in my house arent being seen by other people, like when im shopping online using credit card information etc. and nobody can get into my wireless home network.

VPN: Virtual Private Network.. allows remote hosts to connect to your network and view all computers on network (basically, they're on your LAN), useful for having multiple computers to access remotely and basic junk like that. :)

More information on VPN : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPN

SSL: Secure/Safe Socket Layer.. It allows you to connect and send packets to a server via a "secure socket layer", basically, all your information is encrypted. There are exploits, but it's much safer than not having it at all. :)

More information on SSL : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Sockets_Layer

DNS: Domain Name System.. I don't know much about DNS, but as far as I know, it translates IP addresses into something that humans can understand (:p), like http://www.google.com would be 64.233.167.99 <-- how the computer reads it, http://www.google.com <-- how WE read it.

More information on DNS : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System

sick thanks a lot skatergod.

sick thanks a lot skatergod.

No problemo. :) Anything else, just ask..