Exposure Glossary
Browse 17 exposure terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.
17 Exposure Terms
- Attack Surface
- Attack Surface is the total set of reachable interfaces, services, identities, code paths, and trust relationships an attacker can target. Security teams use...
- Cleartext
- Cleartext is data stored or transmitted in readable form without cryptographic protection against observation. Security teams use it to enforce trust, reduce...
- Code Sunburn
- A mildly painful technical consequence from overexposure, such as too much production debugging, too many quick patches, or too much direct dependency on a...
- Credential Leak
- An event where usernames, passwords, tokens, keys, or similar authentication data are exposed to unauthorized parties. Credential leaks create immediate...
- Data Leakage
- The unauthorized exposure or escape of sensitive data through technical flaws, misconfiguration, insecure handling, or accidental sharing. Leakage can happen...
- Default Credentials
- Default Credentials is factory-set usernames and passwords that remain dangerous if not changed before deployment. Security teams use it to enforce trust,...
- Health Check Security
- The practice of securing application or infrastructure health-check endpoints so they do not expose sensitive status data, bypass authentication, or become a...
- Information Disclosure
- Information Disclosure is the exposure of sensitive information to parties that were not meant to receive it. Security teams use it to enforce trust, reduce...
- Internet Exposure
- The condition of a system, service, asset, or interface being reachable from the public internet. Internet exposure is not automatically a flaw, but exposed...
- Known Vulnerability
- A software or system weakness that has already been publicly or privately identified, documented, or tracked. Known vulnerabilities are especially important...
- Patch Gap
- The period or coverage difference between when a fix is available and when all affected systems have actually been patched. Patch gaps are where many...
- Port Forwarding
- The redirection of traffic arriving on one port to a different internal host, service, or port, often through a router, firewall, SSH tunnel, or NAT device....
- Public Vulnerability
- A vulnerability that has been disclosed publicly through an advisory, CVE, research post, or exploit release. Public vulnerabilities often draw immediate...
- Robot Exclusion
- The practice of using mechanisms like `robots.txt` to signal which parts of a site automated crawlers should avoid indexing or scanning. Robot exclusion is a...
- Rogue Server
- A server that is deployed or operating without proper approval, inventory, or security oversight, or that is impersonating a legitimate service. Rogue servers...
- Sitting Duck
- Something left exposed, undefended, or easy to hit. In engineering slang, a sitting duck is usually a service, credential, or process left vulnerable by weak...
- Wide Open
- Completely exposed, unrestricted, or lacking meaningful controls. In engineering slang, a system left wide open is practically inviting trouble.
Related Topics
- Slang (3 terms in common)
- Risk (2 terms in common)
- Privacy (2 terms in common)
- Vulnerabilities (2 terms in common)
- Patch Management (1 terms in common)
- Unauthorized Systems (1 terms in common)
- Cryptography (1 terms in common)
- Perimeter (1 terms in common)
- Minor Damage (1 terms in common)
- Hardening (1 terms in common)
- Vulnerability (1 terms in common)
- Threat Modeling (1 terms in common)
- Exfiltration (1 terms in common)
- Security (1 terms in common)
- Tunnels (1 terms in common)
- Networking (1 terms in common)
- Infrastructure (1 terms in common)
- Attack Surface (1 terms in common)
- Breaches (1 terms in common)
- Data Security (1 terms in common)