Abbreviations

Abbreviations

AAA	Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
ACL	Access Control List
AES	Advanced Encryption Standard
AES-256	Advanced Encryption Standard 256-bit
AH	Authentication Header
AI	Artificial Intelligence
AIS	Automated Indicator Sharing
ALE	Annualized Loss Expectancy
AP	Access Point
API	Application Programming Interface
APT	Advanced Persistent Threat
ARO	Annualized Rate of Occurrence
ARP	Address Resolution Protocol
ASLR	Address Space Layout Randomization
ATT&CK	Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge
AUP	Acceptable Use Policy
AV	Antivirus
BASH	Bourne Again Shell
BCP	Business Continuity Planning
BGP	Border Gateway Protocol
BIA	Business Impact Analysis
BIOS	Basic Input/Output System
BPA	Business Partners Agreement
BPDU	Bridge Protocol Data Unit
BYOD	Bring Your Own Device
CA	Certificate Authority
CAPTCHA	Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart
CAR	Corrective Action Report
CASB	Cloud Access Security Broker
CBC	Cipher Block Chaining
CCMP	Counter Mode/CBC-MAC Protocol
CCTV	Closed-circuit Television
CERT	Computer Emergency Response Team
CFB	Cipher Feedback
CHAP	Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
CIA	Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability
CIO	Chief Information Officer
CIRT	Computer Incident Response Team
CMS	Content Management System
COOP	Continuity of Operation Planning
COPE	Corporate Owned, Personally Enabled
CP	Contingency Planning
CRC	Cyclical Redundancy Check
CRL	Certificate Revocation List
CSO	Chief Security Officer
CSP	Cloud Service Provider
CSR	Certificate Signing Request
CSRF	Cross-Site Request Forgery
CSU	Channel Service Unit
CTM	Counter Mode
CTO	Chief Technology Officer
CVE	Common Vulnerability Enumeration
CVSS	Common Vulnerability Scoring System
CYOD	Choose Your Own Device
DAC	Discretionary Access Control
DBA	Database Administrator
DDoS	Distributed Denial of Service
DEP	Data Execution Prevention
DES	Digital Encryption Standard
DHCP	Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DHE	Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral
DKIM	DomainKeys Identified Mail
DLL	Dynamic Link Library
DLP	Data Loss Prevention
DMARC	Domain Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance
DNAT	Destination Network Address Translation
DNS	Domain Name System
DoS	Denial of Service
DPO	Data Privacy Officer
DRP	Disaster Recovery Plan
DSA	Digital Signature Algorithm
DSL	Digital Subscriber Line
EAP	Extensible Authentication Protocol
ECB	Electronic Code Book
ECC	Elliptic Curve Cryptography
ECDHE	Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral
ECDSA	Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm
EDR	Endpoint Detection and Response
EFS	Encrypted File System
ERP	Enterprise Resource Planning
ESN	Electronic Serial Number
ESP	Encapsulated Security Payload
FACL	File System Access Control List
FDE	Full Disk Encryption
FIM	File Integrity Monitoring
FPGA	Field Programmable Gate Array
FRR	False Rejection Rate
FTP	File Transfer Protocol
FTPS	Secured File Transfer Protocol
GCM	Galois Counter Mode
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulation
GPG	GNU Privacy Guard
GPO	Group Policy Object
GPS	Global Positioning System
GPU	Graphics Processing Unit
GRE	Generic Routing Encapsulation
HA	High Availability
HDD	Hard Disk Drive
HIDS	Host-based Intrusion Detection System
HIPS	Host-based Intrusion Prevention System
HMAC	Hashed Message Authentication Code
HOTP	HMAC-based One-time Password
HSM	Hardware Security Module
HTML	Hypertext Markup Language
HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTPS	Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
HVAC	Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning
IaaS	Infrastructure as a Service
IaC	Infrastructure as Code
IAM	Identity and Access Management
ICMP	Internet Control Message Protocol
ICS	Industrial Control Systems
IDEA	International Data Encryption Algorithm
IDF	Intermediate Distribution Frame
IdP	Identity Provider
IDS	Intrusion Detection System
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IKE	Internet Key Exchange
IM	Instant Messaging
IMAP	Internet Message Access Protocol
IoC	Indicators of Compromise
IoT	Internet of Things
IP	Internet Protocol
IPS	Intrusion Prevention System
IPSec	Internet Protocol Security
IR	Incident Response
IRC	Internet Relay Chat
IRP	Incident Response Plan
ISO	International Organization for Standardization
ISP	Internet Service Provider
ISSO	Information Systems Security Officer
IV	Initialization Vector
KDC	Key Distribution Center
KEK	Key Encryption Key
L2TP	Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol
LAN	Local Area Network
LDAP	Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
LEAP	Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol
MaaS	Monitoring as a Service
MAC	Mandatory Access Control / Media Access Control / Message Authentication Code
MAN	Metropolitan Area Network
MBR	Master Boot Record
MD5	Message Digest 5
MDF	Main Distribution Frame
MDM	Mobile Device Management
MFA	Multi-Factor Authentication
MFD	Multifunction Device
MFP	Multifunction Printer
ML	Machine Learning
MMS	Multimedia Message Service
MOA	Memorandum of Agreement
MOU	Memorandum of Understanding
MPLS	Multiprotocol Label Switching
MSA	Master Service Agreement
MSCHAP	Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
MSP	Managed Service Provider
MSSP	Managed Security Service Provider
MTBF	Mean Time Between Failures
MTTF	Mean Time to Failure
MTTR	Mean Time to Recover	Critical for disaster recovery planning
MTU	Maximum Transmission Unit	Network packet size limit
NAC	Network Access Control	Ensures endpoint compliance (e.g., 802.1X)
NAT	Network Address Translation	Masks private IPs (e.g., home routers)
NDA	Non-disclosure Agreement	Legal confidentiality requirement
NFC	Near Field Communication	Contactless payments (range: ~4cm)
NGFW	Next-generation Firewall	Includes IPS, SSL inspection
NIDS	Network-based Intrusion Detection System	Passive monitoring (e.g., Snort)
NIPS	Network-based Intrusion Prevention System	Active blocking of threats
NIST	National Institute of Standards & Technology	Publishes cybersecurity frameworks
NTFS	New Technology File System	Windows file system with ACL support
NTLM	New Technology LAN Manager	Legacy Windows auth protocol
NTP	Network Time Protocol	Critical for log synchronization
OAUTH	Open Authorization	API authorization framework
OCSP	Online Certificate Status Protocol	Real-time cert revocation checks
OID	Object Identifier	Unique identifier in PKI
OS	Operating System	Windows, Linux, macOS security
OSINT	Open-source Intelligence	Threat intelligence from public sources
OSPF	Open Shortest Path First	Dynamic routing protocol
OT	Operational Technology	Industrial systems (SCADA, ICS)
OTA	Over the Air	Wireless updates (e.g., IoT devices)
OVAL	Open Vulnerability Assessment Language	Standard for vulnerability checks
P12	PKCS #12	Certificate container format
P2P	Peer to Peer	Decentralized networks (risk: malware)
PaaS	Platform as a Service	Cloud dev environment (e.g., Heroku)
PAC	Proxy Auto Configuration	Automated proxy settings
PAM	Privileged Access Management	Controls admin access
PAM	Pluggable Authentication Modules	Linux authentication framework
PAP	Password Authentication Protocol	Unencrypted credential transmission
PAT	Port Address Translation	NAT variant mapping multiple devices
PBKDF2	Password-based Key Derivation Function 2	Key stretching algorithm
PBX	Private Branch Exchange	Business phone systems (VoIP risks)
PCAP	Packet Capture	Network traffic analysis (Wireshark)
PCI DSS	Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard	Credit card security compliance
PDU	Power Distribution Unit	Data center power management
PEAP	Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol	WPA2-Enterprise authentication
PED	Personal Electronic Device	BYOD security considerations
PEM	Privacy Enhanced Mail	Base64-encoded cert format
PFS	Perfect Forward Secrecy	Ephemeral keys for session security
PGP	Pretty Good Privacy	Email/file encryption standard
PHI	Personal Health Information	HIPAA-regulated data
PII	Personally Identifiable Information	GDPR/CCPA protected data
PIV	Personal Identity Verification	US govt smart card standard
PKCS	Public Key Cryptography Standards	RSA-developed crypto standards
PKI	Public Key Infrastructure	Digital certificate framework
POP	Post Office Protocol	Legacy email retrieval protocol
POTS	Plain Old Telephone Service	Analog phone security risks
PPP	Point-to-Point Protocol	Direct device connections
PPTP	Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol	Insecure VPN protocol (avoid)
PSK	Pre-shared Key	WPA2-Personal authentication
PTZ	Pan-tilt-zoom	Security camera controls
PUP	Potentially Unwanted Program	Grayware (adware, spyware)
RA	Recovery Agent	Key escrow access for encrypted data
RA	Registration Authority	PKI entity that verifies identities
RADIUS	Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service	Centralized network authentication
RAID	Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks	Data redundancy (RAID 1/5/6)
RAS	Remote Access Server	Legacy dial-up access systems
RAT	Remote Access Trojan	Malware for persistent access
RBAC	Role-based Access Control	Permissions tied to job functions
RC4	Rivest Cipher version 4	Insecure stream cipher (deprecated)
RDP	Remote Desktop Protocol	Common attack vector (secure with NLA)
RFID	Radio Frequency Identifier	Physical access cards/cloning risks
RSA	Rivest, Shamir, & Adleman	Asymmetric encryption algorithm
RTBH	Remotely Triggered Black Hole	DDoS mitigation technique
RTO	Recovery Time Objective	Max acceptable downtime
RPO	Recovery Point Objective	Max data loss tolerance
S/MIME	Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions	Encrypted email standard
SaaS	Software as a Service	Cloud apps (e.g., Office 365)
SAML	Security Assertions Markup Language	XML-based SSO standard
SAN	Storage Area Network	High-speed storage network
SAN	Subject Alternative Name	Multi-domain SSL certificates
SCADA	Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition	Industrial control systems
SD-WAN	Software-defined Wide Area Network	Dynamic traffic routing
SDLC	Software Development Lifecycle	Secure development practices
SDN	Software-defined Networking	Decouples control plane from data plane	Attack surface for DDoS (e.g., ONOS controller exploits)
SELinux	Security-enhanced Linux	Mandatory Access Control (MAC) for Linux	Enforces least privilege policies
SED	Self-encrypting Drives	Hardware-based full-disk encryption	Complies with FIPS 140-2, protects data-at-rest
SEH	Structured Exception Handler	Windows memory management feature	Buffer overflow exploitation target
SFTP	Secured File Transfer Protocol	SSH-encrypted file transfer (port 22)	Secure alternative to FTP
SHA	Secure Hashing Algorithm	SHA-256 (NIST standard), SHA-1 deprecated	Integrity verification (e.g., file checksums)
SIEM	Security Information and Event Management	Log aggregation/analysis (e.g., Splunk)	Detects multi-vector attacks via correlation
SIM	Subscriber Identity Module	Mobile auth (e.g., 3G/4G/5G)	SIM swapping attacks bypass 2FA
SLA	Service-level Agreement	Uptime guarantees (e.g., 99.9%)	Cloud security responsibility matrix
SLE	Single Loss Expectancy	Asset Value × Exposure Factor	Part of risk calculation (ALE = SLE × ARO)
SMTP	Simple Mail Transfer Protocol	Email delivery (port 25)	SPF/DKIM/DMARC combat spoofing
SNMP	Simple Network Management Protocol	Device monitoring (v3 encrypts traffic)	Default community strings are a risk
SOAR	Security Orchestration, Automation, Response	Automates incident response (e.g., Phantom)	Reduces MTTR for breaches
SOC	Security Operations Center	24/7 threat monitoring team	Tiered analysts (T1-T3) workflow
SPF	Sender Policy Framework	DNS TXT records to prevent email spoofing	Part of email authentication triad
SQLi	SQL Injection	' OR 1=1-- bypasses authentication	OWASP Top 10 #1 risk
SSH	Secure Shell	Encrypted remote access (port 22)	Key-based auth > passwords
SSL/TLS	Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security	TLS 1.2/1.3 are current standards	Heartbleed (CVE-2014-0160) exploited SSL
SSO	Single Sign-on	Centralized auth (e.g., Okta, ADFS)	Risk: Compromise gives broad access
STIX/TAXII	Structured Threat Information eXchange / Trusted Automated eXchange of Indicator Information	Threat intelligence sharing formats	Used in MISP threat platforms
TACACS+	Terminal Access Controller Access Control System	Cisco auth protocol (TCP/49)	Encrypts entire payload (vs RADIUS)
TCP/IP	Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol	Internet protocol suite	SYN floods attack TCP handshake
TGT	Ticket Granting Ticket	Kerberos authentication component	Golden Ticket attacks forge TGTs
TKIP	Temporal Key Integrity Protocol	WPA encryption (deprecated)	Vulnerable to WPA2 attacks
TLS	Transport Layer Security	Replaced SSL (e.g., TLS 1.3)	Downgrade attacks (e.g., POODLE)
TOTP	Time-based One-time Password	Google Authenticator algorithm	More secure than SMS 2FA
TPM	Trusted Platform Module	Hardware crypto processor	Stores BitLocker/RSA keys
TTPs	Tactics, Techniques, Procedures	MITRE ATT&CK framework structure	Defenders use to profile threat actors
UDP	User Datagram Protocol	Connectionless (port 53 for DNS)	DNS amplification attacks
UEFI	Unified Extensible Firmware Interface	Replaces legacy BIOS	Secure Boot prevents rootkits
UPS	Uninterruptable Power Supply	Battery backup for graceful shutdown	Prevents data corruption
URL	Uniform Resource Locator	https:// vs http://	IDN homograph attacks
USB OTG	USB On the Go	Direct device connections	BadUSB exploits firmware
UTM	Unified Threat Management	All-in-one security appliance	Includes FW/IPS/AV/web filtering
VDI	Virtual Desktop Infrastructure	Centralized desktop hosting	Reduces endpoint attack surface
VLAN	Virtual Local Area Network	Network segmentation (802.1Q)	VLAN hopping via double-tagging
VoIP	Voice over IP	SIP/RTP protocols (port 5060)	Vishing/SIP brute-force risks
VPN	Virtual Private Network	IPsec (IKEv2) or SSL VPNs	Split tunneling risks
WAF	Web Application Firewall	Blocks OWASP Top 10 (e.g., ModSecurity)	Bypasses via 0-days
WEP	Wired Equivalent Privacy	Broken RC4 encryption (2001)	Crackable in <1 minute
WPA	Wi-Fi Protected Access	WPA3 uses SAE (Dragonfly)	KRACK attacks target WPA2
XDR	Extended Detection and Response	Cross-layer threat detection	Evolved from EDR/MDR
XSS	Cross-site Scripting	<script>alert(1)</script>	Stored vs reflected XSS

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