{"id":10700,"date":"2011-07-27T06:30:49","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T06:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/contamination\/"},"modified":"2011-08-18T17:21:32","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T17:21:32","slug":"contamination","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination","title":{"rendered":"Contamination"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Does Contamination Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n

A contamination can occur when classified information is found on a computer or information system that is not accredited for classified information. Contamination of a computer can also occur when malware infiltrates it.<\/p>\n

Techopedia Explains Contamination<\/span><\/h2>\n

Contamination may have occurred in an information system when classified information is found on a computer system which is not supposed to be there. This may have happened:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. By accident<\/li>\n
  2. By transmission of insecure data<\/li>\n
  3. Because the information was changed to a different classification rating<\/li>\n
  4. Because users did not follow protocol and transferred information through insecure methods such as floppy disks or thumb drives<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Contamination can also occur through a computer virus or other form of malware. An anti-virus tool should be enabled to remove an active virus from a system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What Does Contamination Mean? A contamination can occur when classified information is found on a computer or information system that is not accredited for classified information. Contamination of a computer can also occur when malware infiltrates it. Techopedia Explains Contamination Contamination may have occurred in an information system when classified information is found on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[218,227,250,216],"class_list":["post-10700","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-cybersecurity","definitioncat-data-management","definitioncat-information-assurance","definitioncat-software-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Contamination? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Contamination and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contamination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Contamination and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-08-18T17:21:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Contamination\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-27T06:30:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-08-18T17:21:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination\"},\"wordCount\":132,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24829\/contamination\",\"name\":\"What is Contamination? 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