Wordsleuth (2000, vol. 33, 2)

Linda P. Collier
(Terminology Update, Volume 33, Number 2, 2000, page 29)

When the ILOVEYOU virus infected and paralyzed e-mail systems worldwide in May, I began perusing newspaper and magazine articles on the subject. Very quickly, I became hooked on the language surrounding the attack of the so-called "Love Bug." For the "wired" crowd, of course, these may be run-of-the-mill terms, but for those of us who are still struggling with basic computer-related concepts and terminology, they are without a doubt some of the more imaginative new words found in the English language today. So whether you were bitten by the bug or not, I hope that you will enjoy this sampling of words.

For our Francophone readers, I have called upon the expertise of François Mouzard, a terminologist and member of the Translation Bureau’s Internet Users Network, to verify the French equivalents found for the terms gleaned.

Business-to-business e-commerce, or B2B as it is commonly referred to, is the buzz of the computer industry because it offers an efficient way for companies with multiple supply chains to conduct deals over the Internet. (1)
French equivalents: cybercommerce interentreprises; commerce électronique interentreprises

… this year alone Canada’s total e-commerce will exceed $20 billion and grow to more than $80 billion by 2003. Some of this revenue includes sales from business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce, a market which includes companies like Chapters.ca, but most of this money can be attributed to successes within the B2B space. (1)
French equivalents: cybercommerce grand public; commerce électronique au détail

Every day, Carnegie Mellon’s computer team probes 30 to 50 illegal computer intrusions. It handled 8,300 incidents affecting 4.4 million computers in 1999—more than twice as many as the previous year. (2)
French equivalent: intrusion informatique

"I think we’re more vulnerable than when this whole incident began, because this is already creating a lot of copycat viruses,"…(2) Those imitation viruses are precisely what spook [the computer security industry] . . . (2)
French equivalents: virus copieur; virus imitateur (propositions)

His message to dot-com companies desperately competing for brains and frantically jostling for position in a global market is to chill and think holistically. (1)
French equivalents: cyberentreprise; compagnie pointcom

The insight is lost on neither software developers nor dot-com entrepreneurs. (4)
French equivalents: cyberentrepreneur; entrepreneur pointcom (propositions)

And by the time all is said and done, damage could be measured in the billions of dollars, easily surpassing the famous Melissa virus, which set records for electronic vandalism. (1) Other high-profile cases of e-vandalism infecting computers worldwide in the past year include WormExplore.Zip, one known as Chernobyl, and the Melissa virus, which like the love bug used e-mail to propagate itself. (1)
French equivalents: cybervandalisme; vandalisme électronique

In Santa Clara, Yahoo! Inc. editor-in-chief … acknowledges that a shopping search on Yahoo! only returns choices from e-tailers that have a commercial partnership with the site. (4)
French equivalents: cybercommerçant; commerçant virtuel; cybermarchand

Nomura International, Japan’s largest brokerage firm, also felt the sharp end of the e-terror. (1)
French equivalent: cyberterreur

Scotiabank’s Internet subsidiary … recently set up an online store called ScotiaWeb to provide a hosting service and an interactive storefront for companies to sell and trade goods. (1)
French equivalent: vitrine interactive

Mail filters can be installed that block all incoming e-mails that include attachments whose names end with vbs. . . (3)
French equivalent: filtre-courrier

The bug’s "Trojan horse" feature—its ability to steal passwords and transport them back to the master hacker—made the attack a "password payday for hackers," . . . (1)
French equivalents: grand pirate informatique; pro du piratage informatique (propositions)

By far the worst of the next-generation viruses could completely infect a computer by sending a fatal e-mail attachment wiping out the contents of a recipient’s hard drive, . . . (1)
French equivalents: virus de la prochaine génération; virus nouvelle génération

Officials said the couple posted the password-sniffing program on the Web by connecting to an Internet service provider in Manila with their home phone line, authorities said. (1)
French equivalents: programme renifleur de mots de passe; renifleur de mots de passe (propositions)

When activated by a user, the virus also attempted to fetch another program from a Web site in the Philippines that would sniff through the user’s computer for Internet access passwords and e-mail those passwords to an address in the Philippines. (1)
French equivalent: renifler

Faster than a speeding virus, a vandal computer program known as the "love bug," technically a computer "worm," managed to shut down a large percentage of the world’s electronic communications traffic yesterday. (1)
French equivalents: vandale; programme vandale

The young woman being pursued is only a spreader, not the creator of the virus, . . . (2)
French equivalent: propagateur de virus

Virus writers tend not to have that kind of money, although if they put their not-inconsiderable talents to an economically productive task, many could become useful dot-com millionaires instead of malicious hackers. (1)
French equivalent: créateur de virus

Experts say that technically speaking, the Love Bug isn’t a virus but a worm. While a virus attaches itself to files that a user inadvertantly passes on, a worm spreads to other computers all by itself. (2)
French equivalent: ver

Sources

(1) The Ottawa Citizen, May 2000.
(2) The Globe and Mail, May 2000.
(3) The Gazette, May 2000.
(4) Maclean’s, May 2000.

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