- whitelist
- (WYT.list)v.To place a name, e-mail address, Web site address, or program on a list of items that are deemed spam- or virus-free. Also: white-list, white list.Example Citation:So how do we start fixing [spam]? Clearly, technical approaches are part of the solution. Apple and Microsoft have pretty good but far from flawless filters in their mail clients. Measures taken before the junk gets to the in box include "blacklisting," which blocks stuff from known spammers, and "whitelisting," which permits only e-mail from preapproved senders.— Stephen Levy, "How to Can the Spam," Newsweek, February 24, 2003Earliest Citation:Finjan Software has branded itself as a pioneer in the behavior-blocking field with its SurfinShield product, which provides corporate desktops with real-time monitoring of executable files, ActiveX, Java, Visual Basic Script and JavaScript, Scrap files (.shs and .shb), and Windows Scripting Host attachments (.vbs, .js, .wsh). ...The application permits the "white listing" of known non-malicious programs, which are allowed to run while all other code is still monitored.— Robert Vibert, "Extending scanner range," Information Security, February 2001Notes:The noun black list (or blacklist), a list of people or things that are deemed unsafe or undesirable, has been in the language since the early 1600s. The verb form (meaning to place on a black list) first showed up in the early 1700s. Today's new verb comes from the noun white list (or whitelist) which entered the language around 1900. The verb form (to place someone or something on a list of things deemed safe or acceptable) has been around since about the mid-70s. The specific sense of placing items on a list of things known not to be spam or viruses first started appearing in Usenet posts around 1996, although, as the earliest citation shows, the verb didn't make it into the media until 2001.Related Words: Categories:
New words. 2013.
