Kermit

A terminal program and file transfer protocol, kermit can be used to download files from a remote system to your home computer. Kermit is distinguished by it's ability to transfer files over telnet and other connections that would corrupt a binary transfer. It is officially available from the Columbia University Kermit software collection.

Kernel

The Kernel is the set of functions that make up the operating system, used to provide an application interface between programs and the underlying virtual and physical devices.

Key

A password, pass phrase, or other sequence used to access encrypted information, the key 'unlocks' controlled data or systems.

Key Escrow

Giving copies of your key to a third party, allowing them to decrypt messages. Key Escrow is proposed as a solution to allow businesses to review documents encrypted by their employees, and governments to intercept communications and files encrypted by their citizens, such as the 'Clipper' proposal by the United States.

kilobyte

A Kilobyte consists of 1,024 bytes.
See also: megabyte.

ksh

The Korn Shell is a standard Unix shell, this command-line/batch interface was written by David Korn of Bell labs, and is available as public-domain source in pdksh. (bdillon)