mobile code

Software that originates from a remote server, is transmitted across a network, and is loaded onto and executed on a local client system without explicit initiation by the client's user and, in some cases, without that user's knowledge. (Compare: active content.)

Tutorial: One form of mobile code is active content in a file that is transferred across a network.

"Software modules obtained from remote systems, transferred across a network, and then downloaded and executed on local systems without explicit installation or execution by the recipient." [JP1]

Technology that enables the creation of executable information that can be delivered to an information system and directly executed on any hardware/software architecture that has an appropriate host execution environment.

"Programs (e.g., script, macro, or other portable instruction) that can be shipped unchanged to a heterogeneous collection of platforms and executed with identical semantics" [SP28]. (See: active content.)

Tutorial: Mobile code might be malicious. Using techniques such as "code signing" and a "sandbox" can reduce the risks of receiving and executing mobile code.