Cyber Security Glossary

Find definitions for IT security and compliance in our online glossary of key terms, acronyms, and vocabulary.

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  • Term
    Definition
  • Software distributed free on a trial basis with the understanding that the user will pay if the software is used beyond the trial period. 
  • A sibling is a document that shares a common parent with the document in question (e.g. two attachments that share the same parent email or are sibling documents in the same Zip file). 
  • "a framework for interpreting data from experiments in which accuracy is measured."
  • Definition: A recognizable, distinguishing pattern. Types of signatures: attack signature, digital signature, electronic signature.
  • Definition: In cybersecurity, comprehending the current status and security posture with respect to availability, confidentiality, and integrity of networks, systems, users, and data, as well as projecting future states of these.
  • A form of residual data, slack space is the amount of on-disk file space from the end of the logical record information to the end of the physical disk record. It is unused space in a disk cluster. Slack space can contain information soft-deleted from the record, information from prior(...)
  • Plastic, credit card sized cards with an embedded integrated electronic chip.
  • "Something proposed as a solution to a problem, but which is of little real or practical value; speech or action which is superficially attractive or convincing but of no real substance or effectiveness."
  • "how humans interact with technology within the broader societal context"
  • Coded instructions (programs) that make a computer do useful work. 
  • Definition: The level of confidence that software is free from vulnerabilities, either intentionally designed into the software or accidentally inserted at any time during its lifecycle, and that the software functions in the intended manner.
  • Definition: In the NICE Framework, cybersecurity work where a person: Develops and writes/codes new (or modifies existing) computer applications, software, or specialized utility programs following software assurance best practices.
  • "Activity in which a system or component is executed under specified conditions, the results are observed or recorded, and an evaluation is made of some aspect of the system or component."
  • Definition: The abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages.
  • "refers to a matrix of numbers that includes many zeros or values that will not significantly impact a calculation."
  • "A document that specifies, in a complete, precise, verifiable manner, the requirements, design, behavior, or other characteristics of a system or component and often the procedures for determining whether these provisions have been satisfied."
  • Spoliation is the destruction of records which may be relevant to ongoing or anticipated litigation, government investigation or audit. Courts differ in their interpretation of the level of intent required before sanctions may be warranted. 
  • Definition: Faking the sending address of a transmission to gain illegal [unauthorized] entry into a secure system.Extended Definition: The deliberate inducement of a user or resource to take incorrect action. Note: Impersonating, masquerading, piggybacking, and mimicking are forms of spoofing.
  • Definition: Software that is secretly or surreptitiously installed into an information system without the knowledge of the system user or owner.Related Term(s): keylogger
  • "Individual or organization having a right, share, claim, or interest in a system or in its possession of characteristics that meet their needs and expectations. An individual, group, or organization who may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or(...)
  • A personal computer that is not connected to any other computer or network, except possibly through a modem. 
  • "The most widely used measure of dispersion of a frequency distribution introduced by K. Pearson (1893). It is equal to the positive square root of the variance. The standard deviation should not be confused with the root mean square deviation."
  • "An activity, task, or input that describes or defines the beginning of a process."
  • "A systematic tendency for estimates or measurements to be above or below their true values. Statistical biases arise from systematic as opposed to random error. Statistical bias can occur in the absence of prejudice, partiality, or discriminatory intent."
  • "The independence between the protected attribute and the outcome of the decision rule"