Security Fundamentals↗
Access Control
A security mechanism that determines who or what is allowed to access a resource, system, or information.
CYBERSECURITY KNOWLEDGE BASE
Cybersecurity Glossary.
Understand the terminology behind cybersecurity, networking, ethical hacking, penetration testing, digital forensics, and defensive security.
60+CORE TERMS
11CATEGORIES
A–ZINDEX
⌕CTRL K
KNOWLEDGE BASE
Explore the terminology.
Use the alphabetical index to navigate through common cybersecurity concepts.
A
Windows Security↗
Active Directory
A Microsoft directory service used to manage users, computers, groups, policies, and resources within a Windows domain environment.
Security↗
Attack Surface
The collection of points where an unauthorized user could potentially attempt to interact with or compromise a system.
Identity↗
Authentication
The process of verifying the identity of a user, device, application, or system.
Identity↗
Authorization
The process of determining what an authenticated identity is permitted to access or perform.
B
Threats↗
Backdoor
A mechanism that can provide access to a system while bypassing normal authentication or security controls.
Authentication↗
Brute Force
A technique that attempts many possible credentials or values until a valid one is discovered.
Web Security↗
Burp Suite
A collection of tools commonly used for testing and analyzing web applications.
C
Security Fundamentals↗
CIA Triad
A foundational security model consisting of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.
Cryptography↗
Cryptography
The study and application of techniques used to protect information through mathematical transformations and security protocols.
Vulnerability Management↗
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures is a system for identifying publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Vulnerability Management↗
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System provides a standardized framework for describing and scoring the severity of vulnerabilities.
D
Network Security↗
DDoS
Distributed Denial-of-Service is an attack in which multiple systems generate traffic or requests intended to make a service unavailable.
Forensics↗
Digital Forensics
The process of collecting, preserving, examining, and analyzing digital evidence.
Networking↗
DNS
Domain Name System translates domain names into IP addresses and supports name resolution across networks.
E
Blue Team↗
EDR
Endpoint Detection and Response technology monitors endpoint activity to help detect, investigate, and respond to security threats.
Cryptography↗
Encryption
The process of transforming readable information into a protected form that requires appropriate cryptographic information to recover.
Offensive Security↗
Ethical Hacking
Authorized security testing performed to identify weaknesses and improve the security of systems.
F
Network Security↗
Firewall
A security control that monitors and controls network traffic according to defined rules.
Networking↗
FTP
File Transfer Protocol is a network protocol designed for transferring files between systems.
H
Cryptography↗
Hashing
A one-way transformation that produces a fixed-length value from input data.
Defense↗
Honeypot
A deliberately exposed or simulated system designed to attract, detect, or study unauthorized activity.
Web↗
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol is a foundational protocol used for communication between web clients and servers.
Web Security↗
HTTPS
HTTP communication protected using TLS encryption.
I
Network Security↗
IDS
Intrusion Detection System monitors activity and generates alerts when potentially malicious or suspicious behavior is detected.
Network Security↗
IPS
Intrusion Prevention System detects potentially malicious traffic and can take action to block or prevent it.
Blue Team↗
Incident Response
The organized process of detecting, analyzing, containing, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents.
K
Security Tools↗
Kali Linux
A Linux distribution designed for security testing, digital forensics, research, and related cybersecurity tasks.
Authentication↗
Kerberos
A network authentication protocol that uses tickets and cryptographic mechanisms to authenticate identities.
L
Identity↗
LDAP
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol is used to access and manage directory information.
Security Principles↗
Least Privilege
A principle where users, applications, and systems receive only the permissions required to perform their intended tasks.
Offensive Security↗
Linux Privilege Escalation
The process of identifying authorized paths through which a lower-privileged Linux context could obtain higher privileges.
M
Threats↗
Malware
Malicious software designed to perform unauthorized or harmful actions.
Threat Intelligence↗
MITRE ATT&CK
A knowledge base that organizes adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures observed in real-world attacks.
Authentication↗
MFA
Multi-Factor Authentication requires multiple authentication factors to verify an identity.
N
Networking↗
NAT
Network Address Translation modifies network address information as traffic passes between networks.
Security Tools↗
Nmap
A network discovery and security auditing tool commonly used to identify hosts, services, and network characteristics in authorized environments.
Network Security↗
Network Segmentation
The practice of dividing a network into separate segments to control communication and reduce security risk.
O
Web Security↗
OAuth
An authorization framework that enables applications to obtain limited access to resources without directly handling a user's credentials.
Web Security↗
OWASP
An organization that provides open resources, projects, standards, and educational material focused on application security.
Web Security↗
OWASP Top 10
A widely used awareness resource describing important categories of web application security risks.
P
Offensive Security↗
Penetration Testing
An authorized security assessment in which controlled testing is performed to identify and validate security weaknesses.
Social Engineering↗
Phishing
A social-engineering technique that attempts to trick people into revealing information or performing an unintended action.
Offensive Security↗
Privilege Escalation
The process of obtaining permissions beyond those initially available to an account or process.
Networking↗
Proxy
An intermediary that receives and forwards requests between a client and another system or service.
R
Threats↗
Ransomware
Malicious software that typically prevents access to data or systems and demands some form of payment or action.
Offensive Security↗
Reconnaissance
The information-gathering phase of a security assessment used to understand the authorized target environment.
Security Research↗
Reverse Engineering
The process of analyzing software or systems to understand their internal structure and behavior.
S
Blue Team↗
SIEM
Security Information and Event Management systems collect, correlate, analyze, and present security-related events and logs.
Security↗
Social Engineering
The use of psychological or social manipulation to influence people into revealing information or performing actions.
Web Security↗
SQL Injection
A class of vulnerability where untrusted input can interfere with the intended structure of a database query.
Networking↗
SSH
Secure Shell is a protocol commonly used for secure remote administration and communication.
Cryptography↗
SSL/TLS
Cryptographic protocols used to provide confidentiality, integrity, and authentication for network communication.
T
Security↗
Threat Intelligence
Information and analysis about threats that can help organizations understand, detect, and respond to security risks.
Cryptography↗
TLS
Transport Layer Security is a cryptographic protocol used to secure communications over networks.
Authentication↗
Token
A value used by an application or protocol to represent authentication, authorization, or a session context.
V
Security↗
Vulnerability
A weakness in a system, application, process, or configuration that could potentially be exploited.
Security Testing↗
Vulnerability Assessment
A process used to identify, analyze, and prioritize vulnerabilities in an authorized environment.
Network Security↗
VPN
Virtual Private Network technology creates a protected communication path across an underlying network.
W
Web Security↗
WAF
Web Application Firewall monitors and filters HTTP traffic to help protect web applications from malicious requests.
Network Analysis↗
Wireshark
A network protocol analyzer used to capture and inspect network traffic in authorized environments.
Web Security↗
Web Application Security
The practice of identifying and mitigating security risks in applications delivered through web technologies.
X
Web Security↗
XSS
Cross-Site Scripting is a class of web vulnerability where attacker-controlled content can execute in a victim's browser context.
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