$
- $MFT
- NTFS Master File Table holding metadata for every file. · Digital Forensics
1
- 1930 helpline
- India's national cybercrime helpline number. · Cyber Safety for Students
A
- ABAC
- Attribute-Based Access Control: decisions based on attributes of user, resource and context. · Identity & Access Management
- Admission controller
- Kubernetes component that can reject non-compliant or unsigned workloads. · DevSecOps & Secure CI/CD
- AES-GCM
- Authenticated symmetric encryption mode providing confidentiality and integrity. · Cryptography & PKI
- ALE
- Annualized Loss Expectancy = Single Loss Expectancy × Annual Rate of Occurrence. · Security Foundations & GRC
- Application allow-listing
- Only approved software can run (WDAC, AppLocker). · Endpoint Security & Malware Analysis
- APT
- Advanced Persistent Threat: well-resourced actor, often state-linked, pursuing long-term goals. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- Argon2id
- Memory-hard password hashing algorithm recommended for new systems. · Cryptography & PKI
- ARP spoofing
- Sending forged ARP replies to intercept traffic on a local network. · Network Security
B
- BEC
- Business Email Compromise: impersonation to redirect payments or data. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- Blue team
- Defenders who detect and respond. · Ethical Hacking & Pentesting
- Bug bounty
- Program rewarding researchers for responsibly reported vulnerabilities. · Ethical Hacking & Pentesting
- Business Impact Analysis
- Identifies critical processes and the impact of their disruption; sets RTO and RPO. · Security Foundations & GRC
C
- Certificate Transparency
- Public append-only logs of issued TLS certificates. · Cryptography & PKI
- Chain of custody
- Documented record of evidence handling from collection to court. · Digital Forensics
- CIA triad
- Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability: the three core security properties. · Security Foundations & GRC
- CIEM
- Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management: right-sizes cloud permissions. · Cloud Security
- Clear desk policy
- Keeping papers and devices secured when unattended. · Security Awareness for Employees
- ClickFix
- Fake CAPTCHA or error pages that trick users into running pasted commands. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- CNAPP
- Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform combining CSPM, CWPP, CIEM and more. · Cloud Security
- Compensating control
- An alternative control used when the primary control isn't feasible. · Security Foundations & GRC
- Conditional Access
- Policy engine that grants access based on user, device, location and risk signals. · Identity & Access Management
- Containment
- Limiting an incident's spread, e.g. isolating hosts or disabling accounts. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- Credential stuffing
- Using leaked username/password pairs to log into other services. · Identity & Access Management
- CSP
- Content Security Policy header restricting where scripts and resources load from. · Application Security
- CSPM
- Cloud Security Posture Management: detects misconfigurations against benchmarks. · Cloud Security
- CSRF
- Tricking a logged-in browser into sending unwanted requests. Fix with anti-CSRF tokens and SameSite cookies. · Application Security
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System; base score 0.0–10.0. · Ethical Hacking & Pentesting
- CWPP
- Cloud Workload Protection Platform: protects VMs, containers and serverless. · Cloud Security
- Cyber Kill Chain
- Lockheed Martin model: Recon, Weaponize, Deliver, Exploit, Install, C2, Actions. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- Cyberbullying
- Using technology to hurt, embarrass or exclude someone. · Cyber Safety for Students
D
- DAST
- Dynamic testing of a running application from the outside. · Application Security
- Data classification
- Labelling data by sensitivity to drive protection rules. · Data Security & Privacy
- Data Fiduciary
- DPDP Act term for the entity deciding purpose and means of processing. · Data Security & Privacy
- Data minimisation
- Collecting only the personal data that's necessary. · Data Security & Privacy
- Deepfake
- AI-generated fake audio or video used to impersonate real people. · Security Awareness for Employees
- Defense in depth
- Layering multiple independent controls so one failure doesn't cause a breach. · Security Foundations & GRC
- Diamond Model
- Intrusion analysis model linking Adversary, Capability, Infrastructure and Victim. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- Digital footprint
- The trail of information you leave online. · Cyber Safety for Students
- Digital signature
- Proves origin and integrity using a private key; verified with the public key. · Cryptography & PKI
- DLP
- Data Loss Prevention: detects and blocks sensitive data leaving approved channels. · Data Security & Privacy
- DMZ
- A network segment exposing public services while isolating the internal network. · Network Security
- DNS sinkhole
- Redirecting malicious domains to a controlled address to block and detect infections. · Network Security
- DPIA
- Data Protection Impact Assessment for high-risk processing. · Data Security & Privacy
- Due diligence
- Investigating and understanding risks before acting (e.g. assessing a vendor). · Security Foundations & GRC
E
- EDR
- Endpoint Detection and Response: endpoint telemetry, detection and response actions. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- Egress filtering
- Restricting outbound traffic to limit malware callbacks and data exfiltration. · Network Security
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: probability a CVE will be exploited in the next 30 days. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- Excessive agency
- An AI agent with more permissions or autonomy than its task needs. · AI & LLM Security
F
- False positive
- An alert that fires on benign activity. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- Forward secrecy
- Session keys can't be recovered even if the long-term private key is later stolen. · Cryptography & PKI
G
- Guardrails
- Input/output filters and policies that constrain AI behaviour. · AI & LLM Security
H
- Hardening
- Reducing attack surface by removing services and applying secure settings. · Endpoint Security & Malware Analysis
- HMAC
- Keyed hash used to verify integrity and authenticity of a message. · Cryptography & PKI
- HMI
- Human-Machine Interface operators use to monitor and control processes. · OT, ICS & IoT Security
- HSM
- Hardware Security Module: tamper-resistant device for key storage and crypto operations. · Cryptography & PKI
I
- IaC scanning
- Checking Terraform, Bicep or Kubernetes manifests for misconfigurations. · DevSecOps & Secure CI/CD
- IDOR
- Insecure Direct Object Reference: accessing others' data by changing an identifier. · Application Security
- IDS
- Intrusion Detection System: alerts on suspicious traffic. · Network Security
- IMDS
- Instance Metadata Service; a common SSRF target. Use IMDSv2 on AWS. · Cloud Security
- Incident reporting
- Telling the security team quickly about anything suspicious or any mistake. · Security Awareness for Employees
- Indirect prompt injection
- Malicious instructions delivered via content the model reads (web pages, files, emails). · AI & LLM Security
- Information classification
- Labels (Public, Internal, Confidential, Restricted) that tell you how to handle data. · Security Awareness for Employees
- Infostealer
- Malware that harvests browser passwords, cookies and tokens. · Endpoint Security & Malware Analysis
- IOC
- Indicator of Compromise: artifact such as a hash, IP or domain linked to malicious activity. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- IPS
- Intrusion Prevention System: inline, can block malicious traffic. · Network Security
- ISMS
- Information Security Management System, the management framework defined by ISO/IEC 27001. · Security Foundations & GRC
J
- Jailbreak/root
- Removing OS restrictions, weakening the platform security model. · Mobile & Endpoint Device Security
- JIT access
- Just-in-time elevation that grants privilege only when needed and for a limited time. · Identity & Access Management
K
- Kerberoasting
- Requesting service tickets to crack service-account passwords offline; defend with long random passwords and gMSA. · Identity & Access Management
- KEV
- CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
L
- Least privilege
- Granting only the minimum access needed to perform a task. · Identity & Access Management
- LOLBins
- Living-off-the-land binaries: legitimate tools abused by attackers (certutil, mshta). · Endpoint Security & Malware Analysis
M
- MAM
- Mobile Application Management: protects work apps and data on personal devices. · Mobile & Endpoint Device Security
- Managed identity
- Cloud-provided identity for workloads, removing the need for stored secrets. · Cloud Security
- MDM
- Mobile Device Management: enrols and enforces policy on whole devices. · Mobile & Endpoint Device Security
- MFA
- Multi-factor authentication: two or more of something you know, have or are. · Identity & Access Management
- MFA fatigue
- Flooding a user with push prompts until they approve one. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- Microsegmentation
- Fine-grained, workload-level network policy. · Security Architecture & Zero Trust
- MITRE ATLAS
- Knowledge base of adversary tactics against AI systems. · AI & LLM Security
- ML-KEM
- NIST post-quantum key encapsulation standard (FIPS 203). · Cryptography & PKI
- Modbus
- Common ICS protocol with no built-in authentication. · OT, ICS & IoT Security
- Model poisoning
- Corrupting training or fine-tuning data to alter model behaviour. · AI & LLM Security
- MTTD
- Mean Time to Detect. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- MTTR
- Mean Time to Respond/Recover. · Security Operations & Incident Response
N
- NetFlow
- Metadata about network flows (who talked to whom, when, how much). · Network Security
- NGFW
- Next-generation firewall: adds application awareness, user identity and IPS to stateful filtering. · Network Security
- NIST CSF
- Cybersecurity Framework with six functions: Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover. · Security Foundations & GRC
O
- OAuth 2.0
- Framework for delegated authorization using access tokens. · Identity & Access Management
- OIDC
- OpenID Connect: identity layer on OAuth 2.0 using ID tokens. · Identity & Access Management
- OIDC federation (CI)
- CI jobs exchanging a signed identity token for short-lived cloud credentials. · DevSecOps & Secure CI/CD
- Order of volatility
- Collect the most short-lived evidence (memory) first. · Digital Forensics
- OTP
- One-time password: a short code that must never be shared. · Cyber Safety for Students
P
- PAM
- Privileged Access Management: vaulting, brokering and recording admin access. · Identity & Access Management
- Passkey
- A FIDO2 credential bound to a site's origin, resistant to phishing. · Identity & Access Management
- Password manager
- An app that creates and stores unique passwords for every account. · Security Awareness for Employees
- Password spraying
- Trying a few common passwords against many accounts to avoid lockouts. · Identity & Access Management
- Phishing
- Fraudulent messages that trick people into revealing data or running malware. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- PKI
- Public Key Infrastructure: CAs, certificates and revocation that bind keys to identities. · Cryptography & PKI
- Playbook
- Step-by-step response procedure for a specific incident type. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- PLC
- Programmable Logic Controller running industrial processes. · OT, ICS & IoT Security
- Pod Security Standards
- Kubernetes policy levels: Privileged, Baseline, Restricted. · Cloud Security
- Policy Decision Point
- Zero trust component that evaluates and decides on access requests. · Security Architecture & Zero Trust
- Policy Enforcement Point
- Zero trust component that enforces access decisions. · Security Architecture & Zero Trust
- Prefetch
- Windows artifact recording program execution. · Digital Forensics
- Pretexting
- Inventing a believable scenario to obtain information. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- Privacy screen
- A filter that stops people nearby reading your screen. · Security Awareness for Employees
- Privacy settings
- Controls that decide who can see your posts and profile. · Cyber Safety for Students
- Private endpoint
- Private IP access to a cloud service, keeping traffic off the public internet. · Cloud Security
- Prompt injection
- Instructions hidden in input that make an LLM ignore its intended rules. · AI & LLM Security
- Pseudonymisation
- Replacing identifiers so data can't be attributed without extra information. · Data Security & Privacy
- Purdue model
- Reference architecture of OT network levels 0–5 with an industrial DMZ at 3.5. · OT, ICS & IoT Security
- Purple teaming
- Red and blue working together to improve detections in real time. · Ethical Hacking & Pentesting
- Pyramid of Pain
- Model showing that detecting TTPs hurts attackers more than detecting hashes or IPs. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
R
- RAG
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation: feeding retrieved documents to an LLM as context. · AI & LLM Security
- Ransomware
- Malware that encrypts or steals data to extort payment. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- RBAC
- Role-Based Access Control: permissions assigned to roles, roles to users. · Identity & Access Management
- Red team
- Authorized adversary emulation to test detection and response. · Ethical Hacking & Pentesting
- Residual risk
- Risk remaining after controls are applied. · Security Foundations & GRC
- Responsible disclosure
- Reporting a vulnerability privately to the vendor and allowing time to fix. · Ethical Hacking & Pentesting
- Risk appetite
- The amount of risk an organisation is willing to accept to pursue its goals. · Security Foundations & GRC
- RPO
- Recovery Point Objective: maximum acceptable data loss measured in time. · Security Foundations & GRC
- RTO
- Recovery Time Objective: maximum acceptable downtime. · Security Foundations & GRC
- Rules of engagement
- Agreed scope, timing, methods and contacts for an authorized test. · Ethical Hacking & Pentesting
S
- Safety Instrumented System
- Independent system that brings a process to a safe state. · OT, ICS & IoT Security
- Salt
- Random value added to a password before hashing to defeat precomputed tables. · Cryptography & PKI
- SAML
- XML-based standard for exchanging authentication assertions between IdP and service provider. · Identity & Access Management
- Sandbox analysis
- Running a sample in an isolated environment to observe behaviour. · Endpoint Security & Malware Analysis
- SAST
- Static Application Security Testing: analyzes source code without running it. · Application Security
- SBOM
- Software Bill of Materials listing every component in a product. · Application Security
- SCA
- Software Composition Analysis: finds vulnerable third-party components. · Application Security
- SCADA
- Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems for distributed processes. · OT, ICS & IoT Security
- Scam
- A trick to steal money, passwords or personal information. · Cyber Safety for Students
- Secrets scanning
- Detecting credentials committed to code repositories. · DevSecOps & Secure CI/CD
- Secure by default
- Products ship with the most secure settings enabled. · Security Architecture & Zero Trust
- Security awareness
- Training that helps people recognise and avoid threats and report incidents. · Security Awareness for Employees
- Separation of duties
- Splitting critical tasks so no one person can complete them alone. · Security Foundations & GRC
- Shadow AI
- Using unapproved AI tools at work, risking data leakage. · Security Awareness for Employees
- Split of security duties between cloud provider and customer. · Cloud Security
- Shift left
- Moving security checks earlier in the development lifecycle. · DevSecOps & Secure CI/CD
- SIEM
- Security Information and Event Management: collects, correlates and alerts on logs. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- Sigma
- Vendor-neutral format for writing SIEM detection rules. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- SLSA
- Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts: framework for build integrity. · DevSecOps & Secure CI/CD
- SOAR
- Security Orchestration, Automation and Response: playbooks that automate response steps. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- Spear phishing
- Phishing targeted at a specific person using researched details. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- SQL injection
- Untrusted input changing the structure of a database query. Fix with parameterized queries. · Application Security
- SSRF
- Making a server send requests to unintended destinations, often internal services. · Application Security
- Statement of Applicability
- ISO 27001 document listing which Annex A controls apply and why. · Security Foundations & GRC
- STIX/TAXII
- Standards for structuring (STIX) and exchanging (TAXII) threat intelligence. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- STRIDE
- Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information disclosure, Denial of service, Elevation of privilege. · Application Security
- Super-timeline
- Combined chronological view of all artifacts from a system. · Digital Forensics
- Sysmon
- Microsoft tool logging detailed process, network and file activity. · Endpoint Security & Malware Analysis
T
- Tailgating
- Following an authorized person through a secured door. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- Threat hunting
- Proactive, hypothesis-driven search for threats that evaded detection. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- Threat modeling
- Structured identification of threats and mitigations during design (e.g. STRIDE). · Application Security
- Three-way handshake
- TCP connection setup: SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK. · Network Security
- TLP
- Traffic Light Protocol for sharing intel: RED, AMBER, AMBER+STRICT, GREEN, CLEAR. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- Tokenization
- Replacing sensitive data (e.g. card numbers) with non-sensitive tokens. · Data Security & Privacy
- True positive
- An alert that correctly identifies malicious activity. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- Trust boundary
- Point where data or control passes between different trust levels. · Security Architecture & Zero Trust
- Trusted adult
- A parent, teacher or counsellor you can talk to when something online feels wrong. · Cyber Safety for Students
- TTP
- Tactics, Techniques and Procedures: how an adversary operates. · Threat Intelligence & MITRE ATT&CK
- Two-step verification
- A second check, like a code or app, on top of your password. · Cyber Safety for Students
- Typosquatting
- Publishing look-alike package or domain names to trick users. · Application Security
V
- Vishing
- Voice phishing, increasingly using AI voice clones. · Social Engineering & Security Awareness
- VLAN
- Virtual LAN separating broadcast domains on shared switches. · Network Security
W
- Write blocker
- Device preventing changes to evidence media during imaging. · Digital Forensics
X
- XDR
- Extended detection and response across endpoint, identity, email, cloud and network. · Security Operations & Incident Response
- XSS
- Cross-site scripting: injecting script into pages viewed by others. Fix with output encoding and CSP. · Application Security
Y
- YARA
- Pattern-matching rules to identify and classify files. · Endpoint Security & Malware Analysis
Z
- Zero trust
- Never trust, always verify; no implicit trust from network location. · Security Architecture & Zero Trust
- Zero-click exploit
- Attack that compromises a device without any user interaction. · Mobile & Endpoint Device Security
- Zones and conduits
- IEC 62443 grouping of assets (zones) and their controlled communications (conduits). · OT, ICS & IoT Security
- ZTNA
- Zero Trust Network Access: per-application access brokered after identity and device checks. · Network Security