Glossary of Terms

A

• Adware: Software that automatically displays or downloads advertising material when a user is online.
• Algorithm: A process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
• Anomaly-Based Detection: Detection of network activities that deviate from a normal behavior pattern.

B

• Backdoor: A method by which authorized and unauthorized users are able to bypass normal security measures and gain high-level user access to a system or network.
• Black Hat Hacker: An individual with extensive computer knowledge whose purpose is to breach or bypass internet security.

C

• Certificate Authority (CA): An entity that issues digital certificates to verify identities on the internet.
• Chain of Custody: Documentation that identifies all changes in the control, handling, possession, ownership, or storage of evidence.

D

• Dark Web: The part of the internet that is not indexed by search engines and is accessed using specific software. It is often associated with illegal activities.
• Data Encryption Standard (DES): A previously predominant algorithm for encryption that is now considered to be insecure.

E

• Ethical Hacker: A computer and networking expert who systematically attempts to penetrate a computer system or network on behalf of its owners for the purpose of finding security vulnerabilities that a malicious hacker could potentially exploit.
• Exploit Kit: A toolkit used by cybercriminals to exploit security holes in software applications to spread malware.

F

• Forensics: The application of scientific knowledge and methodology to solving crimes, involving the examination of data held on or retrieved from computer storage media.

G

• Gray Hat Hacker: A hacker who may sometimes violate ethical standards, but does not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker.

H

• Hashing: The transformation of a string of characters into a usually shorter fixed-length value or key that represents the original string.
• Honeypot: A security mechanism set to detect, deflect, or in some manner counteract attempts at unauthorized use of information systems.
• HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) extends the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network and is widely used on the Internet. HTTPS encrypts the session with a digital certificate, using protocols such as SSL/TLS to secure the data transmitted between the client and server. This encryption makes it difficult for eavesdroppers to intercept or tamper with the information being transferred, providing confidentiality and integrity of the data.

I

• IP Spoofing: The creation of Internet Protocol (IP) packets with a false source IP address, for the purpose of hiding the identity of the sender or impersonating another computing system.

K

• Keylogger: A type of surveillance software that records every keystroke made on a computer.

L

• Logic Bomb: A piece of code intentionally inserted into a software system that will set off a malicious function when specified conditions are met.

M

• Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MitM): A cyberattack where the attacker secretly intercepts and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other.

N

• Network Sniffer: A software tool that captures and analyzes the traffic passing over a network.

P

• Patch Management: The process of distributing and applying updates to software. These patches are often necessary to correct errors (known as “bugs”) in the software.
• Penetration Testing: A test method for evaluating the security of a computer system or network by simulating an attack from a malicious source.

Q

• Quantum Cryptography: The use of quantum mechanical properties to perform cryptographic tasks.

R

• Rootkit: A set of software tools that enable an unauthorized user to gain control of a computer system without being detected.
• RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman): One of the first public-key cryptosystems and is widely used for secure data transmission.

S

• Spoofing: The act of disguising a communication from an unknown source as being from a known, trusted source.
• Spyware: Software that enables a user to obtain covert information about another’s computer activities by transmitting data covertly from their hard drive.

T

• Trojan Horse: Any malware which misleads users of its true intent.

U

• URL Filtering: The practice of blocking access to certain websites based on the URL.

V

• Vulnerability Assessment: The process of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing (or ranking) the vulnerabilities in a system.

W

• Whitelisting: A security process that allows only pre-approved or specified entities access to a particular privilege, site, or access.
• Worm: A malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers.

X

• XSS (Cross-Site Scripting): A security vulnerability typically found in web applications, XSS enables attackers to inject client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users.

Y

• YARA: A tool aimed at (but not limited to) helping malware researchers to identify and classify malware samples.

Z

• Zero-Day Attack: An attack that exploits a potentially serious software security weakness that the vendor or developer may be unaware of.