Glossary of Security Terminology
Access – How many resources on a computer or network that a user is allowed.
Audit – Analyzing how secure a network is from outside attack.
Bandwidth – How much data can pass through a channel, generally stated as an amount of data over an amount of time, such as kb/s.
Bridge – Something that connects one network to another, such as Ethernet cables.
Browser – A program that allows a user to pull information from the World Wide Web and display it.
Byte – A measurement of computer storage; eight bits of data.
Channel – Any medium through which data is transmitted, such as cable or wireless signal.
Cipher – A method of turning information into an indecipherable mass of data that must be translated back, or decrypted, in order to be used or displayed properly.
Collision – When more than one computer tries to send data along the same channel simultaneously.
Corruption – Negative alteration of a computer, network, or point of sale system by changing data or functions stored on them.
Data Mining – Ways of scouring over data to find new and interesting connections between them.
Decryption – Changing information that has been encrypted by a cipher into something that can be displayed in plain text once more.
Defacement – Vandalizing a website in order to display that a successful infiltration has occurred.
Disaster Recovery Plan – The plan for how to recover a computer or network from a corruption or accident.
Exposure – Any situation where private data has been exposed to an unauthorized individual or group.
Filter – Any method used to block or allow specific data through a network.
Firewall – A program, or computer that runs such a program, that acts as a filter.
Hardening – Finding and eliminating vulnerabilities in a network or computer’s security.
Header – The information at the “front” of a packet that identifies the general purpose of its contents.
Hub – A device that spreads the information sent into it to all computers connected to the hub.
Identity – The name or other representation of a user of a system.
Incident – An event of negative impact on a network or computer in regards to its security.
Information Warfare – The “battle” between those who wish to take advantage of security vulnerabilities and those who try to keep them out.
Internet – A general term for connecting multiple networks together into one, or more commonly a modern term for the World Wide Web.
Malware – An overarching term for software that is intended to have a negative impact on computers on which it is run.
Packet – The “envelope” in which data is sent over a network, which includes its destination among its data.
Port – The identifying number for the specific destination of packets into a computer.
Port Scan – Scanning the ports of a computer or network in order to find vulnerabilities.
Risk – A measurement of how vulnerable a network or computer is to corruption.
Sniffing – Monitoring network traffic in an attempt to gain information that could lead to breaching security.
Spoof – Trying to get into a computer system by assuming the role of another user.
Threat – Anything that increases the risk level of a system, be it internal or external.
User – Someone or something that gains access to a network or computer, with or without intended permission.
UNIX – An operating system popularly used to run web servers.
Virus – A piece of malware that is capable of replicating itself.
Web Server – A piece of software running on a computer connected to an Internet that replies to requests from browsers. Can also host point of sale software for web stores.