Security Glossary

Browse 347 security terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

347 Security Terms

2FA Fatigue
The frustration or desensitization users experience from repeated two-factor authentication prompts, which can lead them to approve push notifications without...
Account Takeover
Account Takeover is an attack technique in which an adversary steals or reuses authentication material so an attacker can operate as a legitimate user account....
AI Red Team
A team that deliberately tests an AI system for harmful outputs, misuse paths, jailbreaks, and other safety or security weaknesses.
Algorithm Downgrade Attack
Algorithm Downgrade Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary forces peers to negotiate weaker algorithms or protocol options than the secure...
Anti-Debugging
Anti-Debugging is a defensive measure intended to resist or complicate debugging techniques used by attackers or analysts. Security teams use it to enforce...
Anti-Forensics
Anti-Forensics is a defensive measure intended to resist or complicate forensics techniques used by attackers or analysts. Security teams use it to enforce...
Anti-Malware
Anti-Malware is a defensive measure intended to resist or complicate malware techniques used by attackers or analysts. Security teams use it to enforce trust,...
Anti-Tamper
Anti-Tamper is a defensive measure intended to resist or complicate tamper techniques used by attackers or analysts. Security teams use it to enforce trust,...
API Abuse
API Abuse is an API-focused security concern involving how interfaces are authenticated, limited, or protected from misuse. Security teams use it to enforce...
API Key Rotation
API Key Rotation is an API-focused security concern involving how interfaces are authenticated, limited, or protected from misuse. Security teams use it to...
API Key vs Token
Two approaches to API authentication. API keys are long-lived, opaque strings tied to an account or project -- simple but risky if leaked (no expiration)....
Application Allowlisting
Application Allowlisting is a security concept, control, or technique used to reduce risk and improve visibility across systems and data. Security teams use it...
Asymmetric Encryption
Asymmetric Encryption is cryptographic protection for asymmetric data so unauthorized parties cannot read it easily. Security teams use it to enforce trust,...
Authentication
Authentication is the process of verifying that a user, device, or system is genuinely who or what it claims to be, answering the question 'Who are you?'...
Authentication Bypass
Authentication Bypass is an attack technique in which an adversary circumvents the intended login or verification path and reaches protected functionality...
Backport
Applying a fix or feature from a newer version of software to an older, still-supported version. Essential for security patches on LTS releases — users...
Badware
A colloquial term for software that is malicious, deceptive, dangerously insecure, or simply harmful to users through abusive behavior. It is broader and less...
Behind the Firewall
Describing software or data that stays inside an organization's internal network boundaries rather than being exposed publicly. In enterprise culture the...
Benevolent Hacker
A security researcher or hacker who discovers vulnerabilities and responsibly discloses them to the affected vendor or organization rather than exploiting them...
BGP hijacking
An attack where a malicious or misconfigured network announces ownership of IP address blocks it does not control, causing internet traffic destined for those...
Binary Analysis
Binary Analysis is the examination of binary artifacts or behavior to support security decisions and investigations. Security teams use it to enforce trust,...
Binary Patching
Binary Patching is a security concept, control, or technique used to reduce risk and improve visibility across systems and data. Security teams use it to...
Birthday Attack
Birthday Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary uses the birthday paradox to make hash or signature collisions more likely than brute force...
Black Hat
A hacker who exploits vulnerabilities for personal gain, malice, or criminal purposes — in contrast to white-hat (ethical) and grey-hat hackers. Also the name...
Blind SQL Injection
Blind SQL Injection is an attack technique in which an adversary sends database queries and infers true or false outcomes from timing, content, or error...
Blockchain Security
The protection of blockchain systems, smart contracts, wallets, consensus mechanisms, and surrounding infrastructure against theft, abuse, and protocol...
Bluetooth Sniffing
Bluetooth Sniffing is an attack technique in which an adversary captures Bluetooth traffic to analyze pairing, metadata, or application content. Defenders...
Bring Your Own Device
A policy allowing employees to use personal laptops, phones, or tablets for work instead of only company-issued devices. Bring your own device policies trade...
Brute Force Attack
Brute Force Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary systematically guesses credentials or keys until the target accepts one. Defenders analyze it...
Bubblewrap
A Linux sandboxing tool used to create restricted environments with limited filesystem and process access.
Buffer Overflow Attack
Buffer Overflow Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary writes beyond an allocated buffer and corrupts adjacent memory, control flow, or data...
Business Email Compromise
Business Email Compromise is an attack technique in which an adversary uses spoofing or account access to trick finance or operations staff into sending money...
CAPTCHA Bypass
CAPTCHA Bypass is an attack technique in which an adversary evades human-verification controls with automation, relays, or weaknesses in challenge design....
Card Skimming
Card Skimming is an attack technique in which an adversary captures payment card data from compromised readers, overlays, or e-commerce skimmer code. Defenders...
Clean Desk Policy
A workplace policy requiring desks to be cleared of sensitive documents, devices, or notes when not in use. In security-conscious environments it is meant to...
Click Fraud
Click Fraud is an attack technique in which an adversary generates fraudulent ad clicks or interactions to drain budgets or manipulate advertising metrics....
Clickjacking Attack
Clickjacking Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary tricks a user into clicking hidden or disguised interface elements inside a malicious page....
Client-Side Encryption
Client-Side Encryption is cryptographic protection for client-side data so unauthorized parties cannot read it easily. Security teams use it to enforce trust,...
Code Audit Culture
A team culture in which code is regularly inspected for security, compliance, correctness, or maintainability rather than only trusted by default once merged....
CodeQL
A code analysis engine and query language developed for finding security issues and other patterns by modeling source code semantically rather than just...
Cold Boot Attack
Cold Boot Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary retrieves residual data from memory shortly after power loss to recover secrets such as keys....
Collision Attack
Collision Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary tries to find two different inputs that produce the same cryptographic digest or signature state....
Command and Control
Command and Control is a security concept, control, or technique used to reduce risk and improve visibility across systems and data. Security teams use it to...
Command Injection
Command Injection is an attack technique in which an adversary causes an application to execute attacker-controlled operating-system commands. Defenders...
Cookie Poisoning
Cookie Poisoning is an attack technique in which an adversary modifies cookie contents to tamper with state, privileges, or application logic. Defenders...
CORS Origin
The scheme + hostname + port combination that identifies where a web request originates from. CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) checks prevent JavaScript on...
CORS Preflight
An automatic OPTIONS request sent by the browser before a cross-origin request to check whether the server allows it. Triggered by non-simple methods (PUT,...
Credential
A secret or proof of identity used to authenticate a user, service, or application, such as a password, token, certificate, or API key. Credentials must be...
Credential Harvesting
Credential Harvesting is an attack technique in which an adversary collects usernames, passwords, tokens, or secrets through phishing, malware, or fake...
Credential Provider
A component or service that supplies credentials to an application, often by loading them from environment variables, metadata services, secret stores, or...
Credential Replay
Credential Replay is an attack technique in which an adversary reuses captured authentication material against another session, service, or time window....
Cross-Origin Resource Sharing Attack
Cross-Origin Resource Sharing Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary abuses permissive cross-origin policies to read or send data across trust...
Cross-Site Request Forgery Attack
Cross-Site Request Forgery Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary causes a victim browser to send an authenticated request the user did not...
Cross-Site Scripting Attack
Cross-Site Scripting Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary injects script into trusted pages so code runs in another user's browser context....
Cryptographic Algorithm
A formal algorithm used for encryption, hashing, digital signatures, key agreement, or related cryptographic purposes. Security depends not only on choosing a...
Cryptography
The field of designing and analyzing methods for secure communication, authentication, integrity, and related protections using mathematical techniques. Modern...
Crypto Library
A software library that implements cryptographic primitives and protocols such as hashing, signing, encryption, key exchange, or certificate handling. Crypto...
Crypto Module
A code module or hardware-backed component dedicated to cryptographic operations such as key management, encryption, decryption, signing, or verification....
crypto wallet
Software or hardware that stores the cryptographic private keys needed to sign transactions on a blockchain. Despite the name, wallets don't actually hold...
CSP
Content Security Policy — an HTTP header that tells the browser which sources of content (scripts, styles, images, fonts) are allowed to load on a page. CSP is...
Cyber Security Culture
The shared habits, expectations, and behaviors an organization has around security awareness, reporting, prevention, and response. Good cyber security culture...
DAST
Dynamic Application Security Testing — testing a running application by sending crafted requests to discover vulnerabilities from the outside (black-box...
Data at Rest Encryption
Data at Rest Encryption is cryptographic protection for data at rest data so unauthorized parties cannot read it easily. Security teams use it to enforce...
Data Exfiltration
Data Exfiltration is an attack technique in which an adversary moves sensitive data out of an environment through approved or covert channels. Defenders...
Data in Transit Encryption
Data in Transit Encryption is cryptographic protection for data in transit data so unauthorized parties cannot read it easily. Security teams use it to enforce...
Data Poisoning
Data Poisoning is an attack technique in which an adversary corrupts training or reference data so downstream analytics or models behave incorrectly. Defenders...
Defense in Depth Culture
A culture that assumes single safeguards will fail and therefore builds multiple layers of protection, review, and recovery. In security-minded teams, defense...
Denial of Service
Denial of Service is an attack technique in which an adversary exhausts a service so legitimate users cannot access it reliably. Defenders analyze it to...
DependencyTrack
An open source platform for tracking software component inventories, vulnerabilities, and supply chain risk, often using SBOM data. It is commonly used in...
Dictionary Attack
Dictionary Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary tries likely passwords, keys, or hashes from curated wordlists instead of random guesses....
Differential Privacy
A mathematical framework that provides provable privacy guarantees by adding calibrated noise to query results or model training. Ensures that the output of an...
Digital Certificate Culture
The habits and expectations an organization develops around using, managing, renewing, and trusting digital certificates. The phrase is useful when certificate...
Digital Security
The protection of digital systems, identities, data, and communications from unauthorized access, disruption, or misuse. In culture discussions digital...
Directory Traversal
Directory Traversal is an attack technique in which an adversary uses crafted path input to access files or directories outside the intended application scope....
DoS Amplification
DoS Amplification is an attack technique in which an adversary reflects small requests into much larger responses from third-party services. Defenders analyze...
Double Free
Double Free is an attack technique in which an adversary frees the same memory region twice and creates allocator corruption that can be exploitable. Defenders...
Drive-by Download
Drive-by Download is an attack technique in which an adversary delivers malware when a user visits a compromised page without an obvious installer. Defenders...
Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is an attack technique in which an adversary intercepts communications or signals without authorization to collect information. Defenders analyze...
Email Bombing
Email Bombing is an attack technique in which an adversary floods a mailbox or mail system with high volumes of messages to disrupt operations. Defenders...
Environment Variable
A dynamic value stored outside the application code that configures behavior at runtime — database URLs, API keys, feature flags. The answer to 'how do I store...
Environment Variable
A key-value pair set in the operating system's environment that configures application behavior without code changes. Used for secrets (API keys), feature...
Evil Maid Attack
Evil Maid Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary uses brief physical access to tamper with a powered-off or unattended device. Defenders analyze...
Evil Regex
A regular expression so complex or poorly designed that it is unreadable, fragile, or prone to catastrophic backtracking and performance issues. The term often...
Evil Twin
Evil Twin is an attack technique in which an adversary stands up a rogue wireless access point that imitates a trusted network name or portal. Defenders...
Fail2ban
A security tool that watches logs for suspicious behavior and automatically blocks abusive IP addresses.
Falco
A runtime security tool for detecting suspicious system and container behavior based on rules and system events.
Firewall Culture
A culture strongly shaped by network boundaries, perimeter security assumptions, and the idea that being 'inside' carries special trust. The phrase is often...
Flipper Zero
A portable multi-tool device used for experimenting with radio, RFID, NFC, infrared, and related hardware protocols, popular in hacker and security circles. It...
Fork Bomb
A denial-of-service pattern where processes recursively spawn more processes until the system exhausts its resources. The term is especially associated with...
Format String Attack
Format String Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary passes crafted formatting input to unsafe functions and gains memory disclosure or writes....
Golden Ticket Attack
Golden Ticket Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary forges Kerberos TGTs after stealing the KRBTGT secret and grants domain-level persistence....
GOTO Fail
A reference to Apple's infamous SSL bug caused by a duplicated `goto fail;` line, now used as shorthand for tiny coding mistakes with outsized security...
Hash Collision
Hash Collision is a cryptographic mechanism or concept used to protect confidentiality, integrity, authenticity, or trust establishment. Security teams use it...
HashiCorp Vault
A secrets-management system used to store, issue, and control access to credentials, keys, and other sensitive configuration.
Hashing
Hashing is the process of transforming input data of any size into a fixed-size output (called a hash, digest, or fingerprint) using a mathematical function...
HSTS
HTTP Strict Transport Security — a security header that tells browsers to only communicate with the server over HTTPS, refusing all HTTP connections. Once a...
HTTP Parameter Pollution
HTTP Parameter Pollution is an attack technique in which an adversary adds duplicated or conflicting parameters so the server parses input unexpectedly....
HTTP Request Smuggling
HTTP Request Smuggling is an attack technique in which an adversary desynchronizes front-end and back-end HTTP parsing to hide or splice requests. Defenders...
HTTP Response Splitting
HTTP Response Splitting is an attack technique in which an adversary injects header delimiters so one response becomes multiple attacker-influenced responses....
HTTPS Stripping
HTTPS Stripping is an attack technique in which an adversary forces a victim onto HTTP by interfering with secure upgrade or redirect behavior. Defenders...
ICMP Tunneling
ICMP Tunneling is an attack technique in which an adversary uses ICMP packets as a covert path for data transfer or command traffic. Defenders analyze it to...
IDS Evasion
IDS Evasion is an attack technique in which an adversary modifies traffic or payloads so detection logic misses malicious behavior. Defenders analyze it to...
Information Security
Information Security is the discipline of protecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability across information systems and data. Security teams use it to...
Injection Attack
Injection Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary places untrusted data into an interpreter or execution context so it is treated as code or...
Integer Overflow
Integer Overflow is an attack technique in which an adversary causes arithmetic wraparound that breaks bounds checks, allocations, or logic. Defenders analyze...
Jailbreak
Jailbreak is an attack technique in which an adversary removes or bypasses platform restrictions that are meant to limit code execution or policy. Defenders...
Jailbreak AI
An attempt to bypass an AI system's intended safeguards, restrictions, or instruction boundaries through adversarial prompting or workflow manipulation....
KeePass
A password manager known for local encrypted vaults and straightforward credential storage.
Kerberoasting
Kerberoasting is an attack technique in which an adversary requests service tickets and cracks their encrypted material offline to recover service account...
Kevin Mitnick
A famous and controversial hacker figure often referenced in discussions of social engineering, computer-intrusion history, and hacker mythology.
Known Plaintext Attack
Known Plaintext Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary uses access to both plaintext and ciphertext samples to infer keys or weaknesses. Defenders...
LDAP Injection
LDAP Injection is an attack technique in which an adversary alters directory queries by inserting untrusted input into LDAP filters or attributes. Defenders...
LLM Security
The security discipline around large language model systems, including prompt injection defenses, data protection, access control, abuse prevention, and safe...
Log Forging
Log Forging is an attack technique in which an adversary creates misleading log entries that obscure what really happened. Defenders analyze it to understand...
Log Tampering
Log Tampering is an attack technique in which an adversary deletes, edits, or disables logging to hide attacker actions. Defenders analyze it to understand...
Lynis
A security auditing and hardening tool for Unix-like systems that checks system configuration against common best practices.
MAC Address Spoofing
MAC Address Spoofing is an attack technique in which an adversary changes a device MAC identifier to impersonate another client or avoid controls. Defenders...
MAC Flooding
MAC Flooding is an attack technique in which an adversary overwhelms a switch CAM table so frames are broadcast more broadly. Defenders analyze it to...
Macro Virus
Macro Virus is an attack technique in which an adversary embeds malicious logic in document macros so code runs when the file is opened or trusted. Defenders...
Malicious Insider
Malicious Insider is an attack technique in which an adversary misuses legitimate access to steal, sabotage, or expose organizational assets. Defenders analyze...
Man-in-the-Browser
Man-in-the-Browser is an attack technique in which an adversary modifies a browser session locally to alter transactions and observe content in real time....
Man-in-the-Middle
Man-in-the-Middle is an attack technique in which an adversary interposes between communicating parties to observe, modify, or relay traffic. Defenders analyze...
Mass Assignment
Mass Assignment is an attack technique in which an adversary binds unexpected client-supplied fields to privileged server-side object properties. Defenders...
Memory Zeroing
The practice of overwriting memory contents with zeros before freeing or reusing it, preventing sensitive data (passwords, keys, plaintext) from lingering in...
Mitmproxy
An interactive proxy used to inspect, modify, and debug HTTP and related traffic in transit.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Authentication requiring two or more independent verification factors: something you know (password), something you have (phone/key), something you are...
Multi-Factor Authentication Bypass
Multi-Factor Authentication Bypass is an attack technique in which an adversary defeats a second factor through workflow abuse, phishing proxies, or weak...
NoSQL Injection
NoSQL Injection is an attack technique in which an adversary injects operators or structured values into a NoSQL query parser. Defenders analyze it to...
Null Byte Injection
Null Byte Injection is an attack technique in which an adversary uses a null terminator to truncate or alter how input is processed by lower-level code....
OAuth Token Theft
OAuth Token Theft is an attack technique in which an adversary steals bearer tokens and reuses them to call protected APIs or impersonate sessions. Defenders...
On-Path Attack
On-Path Attack is an attack technique in which an adversary places an attacker on the network path where traffic can be inspected or influenced. Defenders...
OpenBSD
A Unix-like open source operating system from the BSD family, known for prioritizing code correctness, security auditing, and conservative design. It has a...
Open Policy Agent
A general-purpose policy engine used to enforce declarative rules across infrastructure, APIs, and software systems.
Open Redirect
Open Redirect is an attack technique in which an adversary abuses redirect logic so a trusted site sends users to an attacker-controlled destination. Defenders...
Open Source Security
The set of security practices, risks, and governance concerns specific to open source software, including maintainer trust, dependency hygiene, signing,...
Open Source Supply Chain
The web of dependencies, maintainers, build systems, registries, and release processes through which open source software moves from author to downstream...
OPNsense
An open-source firewall and routing platform used for network security and gateway management.
osquery
An operating-system instrumentation framework that exposes system state through a SQL-like interface for security and operations use cases.
OTP
One-Time Password — a dynamically generated code valid for a single login session or transaction. TOTP (time-based) and HOTP (counter-based) are the two main...
Out-of-Band Verification
A verification step that uses an independent communication channel to confirm a request or identity claim. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Package Security
The practices and risks involved in securing distributed software packages, including signature verification, provenance, dependency vetting, tamper...
Packet Capture
A network or infrastructure security concept involving packet capture and the protection or inspection of traffic and services. It shows up in application...
Packet Sniffing
A network or infrastructure security concept involving packet sniffing and the protection or inspection of traffic and services. It shows up in application...
Password Cracking
A security concept covering password cracking and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Password Hashing
The practice of transforming a plaintext password into an irreversible, fixed-length digest using a deliberately slow, salted algorithm — such as bcrypt,...
Password Manager
A security concept covering password manager and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Password Policy
A security concept covering password policy and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Password Spraying
A security concept covering password spraying and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Patch Management
A governance or operations concept focused on patch management as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Patch Tuesday
A security concept covering patch tuesday and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Patch Tuesday Culture
The organizational habit of orienting patching, testing, and risk review around Microsoft's regular Patch Tuesday release cadence. More broadly, the phrase can...
Payload Delivery
A security concept covering payload delivery and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Penetration Testing Methodology
A defensive security practice involving penetration testing methodology to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in...
Permission
A rule or attribute that grants or denies a subject (user, role, or process) the ability to perform a specific action on a resource. In Unix, file permissions...
Permission Boundary
An identity or access control concept centered on permission boundary and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security,...
Personal Data
A security concept covering personal data and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Pharming
A security attack or exploit technique associated with pharming in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Phishing Kit
A security concept covering phishing kit and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Physical Security
A security concept covering physical security and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Piggybacking
A security concept covering piggybacking and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Plaintext
A cryptographic concept related to plaintext, secure communication, key handling, or trust establishment. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Platform Security
A security concept covering platform security and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Plausible Deniability
A security concept covering plausible deniability and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Point of Presence Security
A security concept covering point of presence security and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Post-Exploitation
A security attack or exploit technique associated with post-exploitation in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Pre-Authentication
An identity or access control concept centered on pre-authentication and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security,...
Pretexting
A security concept covering pretexting and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Principal
An identity or access control concept centered on principal and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Privacy by Design
A security concept covering privacy by design and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Privacy Impact Assessment
A defensive security practice involving privacy impact assessment to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Privilege Boundary
An identity or access control concept centered on privilege boundary and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security,...
Privilege Creep
A security concept covering privilege creep and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Privileged Access Management
An identity or access control concept centered on privileged access management and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application...
Process Hollowing
A security concept covering process hollowing and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Process Injection
A security concept covering process injection and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Prompt Attack
An adversarial attempt to manipulate an AI system through crafted input so it ignores instructions, reveals restricted information, or behaves in unintended...
Prompt Injection
An attack where malicious instructions are embedded in user input to override an LLM's system prompt or instructions. Direct injection modifies the prompt...
Prompt Leaking
The exposure of hidden system prompts, private instructions, or internal context through model output or prompt-injection attacks.
Proof of Knowledge
A security concept covering proof of knowledge and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Protocol Downgrade
A security concept covering protocol downgrade and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Proxy Chain
A network or infrastructure security concept involving proxy chain and the protection or inspection of traffic and services. It shows up in application...
Proxy Server
A server that acts as an intermediary for network requests between clients and destination servers. A forward proxy acts on behalf of clients (hiding their...
Pseudo-Random Number Generator
A security concept covering pseudo-random number generator and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Race Condition Exploit
A security attack or exploit technique associated with race condition exploit in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security,...
Rainbow Table
A security concept covering rainbow table and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Random Number Generator
A security concept covering random number generator and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Ransomware Attack
A security attack or exploit technique associated with ransomware attack in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Rate Limiter
A mechanism that controls the rate of requests a client can make to a service within a time window. Common algorithms include token bucket, sliding window, and...
Rate Limiting Algorithm
Algorithms for controlling request rates: Token Bucket (tokens accumulate at fixed rate, each request costs a token — allows bursts), Leaky Bucket (requests...
Rate Limiting Security
A security concept covering rate limiting security and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
RCE Bounty
A bug bounty payout or reward category for finding a remote code execution vulnerability, one of the highest-impact classes of software security flaws. In...
Real-Time Threat Detection
A defensive security practice involving real-time threat detection to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in...
Reclassification
A security concept covering reclassification and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Red Team AI
The practice of adversarially testing AI systems to uncover unsafe behavior, security weaknesses, misuse pathways, or policy failures before deployment. Red...
Red Team Exercise
A defensive security practice involving red team exercise to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Red Teaming AI
Actively probing an AI system for unsafe behavior, jailbreaks, policy failures, or harmful outputs by simulating adversarial use.
Reflected XSS
A security concept covering reflected xss and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Regression Testing Security
A defensive security practice involving regression testing security to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in...
Remediation
A governance or operations concept focused on remediation as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Remote Access Trojan
A security attack or exploit technique associated with remote access trojan in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Remote Code Execution
A security concept covering remote code execution and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Replay Attack
A security attack or exploit technique associated with replay attack in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Reproducible Build
A build process that produces bit-for-bit identical output given the same source code, build environment, and dependencies. Enables independent verification...
Return Oriented Programming
A security concept covering return oriented programming and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Reverse Engineering
A security concept covering reverse engineering and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Revocation List
A security concept covering revocation list and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Risk Assessment
A defensive security practice involving risk assessment to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application security,...
Risk Matrix
A governance or operations concept focused on risk matrix as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Risk Register
A governance or operations concept focused on risk register as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Root Access
Administrative access with full control over a Unix-like system, allowing unrestricted changes to files, processes, and configuration. In practice it implies...
Rootkit Detection
A defensive security practice involving rootkit detection to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Runtime Application Self-Protection
A security concept covering runtime application self-protection and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application...
Salt
A random value appended or prepended to a password before hashing, ensuring that identical passwords produce different hash outputs. Salts defeat precomputed...
Sandbox Escape
A security concept covering sandbox escape and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Script Kiddie
A person who uses pre-written hacking tools and scripts without understanding how they work. The term is deeply derogatory in hacker culture, implying a lack...
Secret
A sensitive credential — such as an API key, database password, TLS certificate private key, or OAuth token — that must be protected from unauthorized access...
Secrets Management
A governance or operations concept focused on secrets management as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Secrets Vault
A security concept covering secrets vault and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Secure Boot
A security concept covering secure boot and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Secure Coding
A security concept covering secure coding and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Secure Enclave
A security concept covering secure enclave and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Secure Multi-Party Computation
A security concept covering secure multi-party computation and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Secure Random
A random number generator that draws from a cryptographically secure entropy source (such as `/dev/urandom` or the OS CSPRNG), producing output that is...
Secure Shell
A security concept covering secure shell and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Secure Software Development Lifecycle
A security concept covering secure software development lifecycle and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application...
Security Advisory
A formal notice describing a security issue, its impact, affected versions, and mitigation or upgrade guidance. In responsible disclosure culture, a good...
Security Assertion Markup Language
A security concept covering security assertion markup language and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application...
Security Audit
A defensive security practice involving security audit to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application security,...
Security Awareness Training
A defensive security practice involving security awareness training to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in...
Security by Obscurity
A security concept covering security by obscurity and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Security Champion
A security concept covering security champion and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Security Control
A security concept covering security control and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Security Fix
A code or configuration change intended to remove or mitigate a security weakness. In software maintenance culture, security fixes often require both code...
Security Group
A security concept covering security group and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Security Monitoring
A defensive security practice involving security monitoring to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Security Operations Center
A security concept covering security operations center and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Security Orchestration
A security concept covering security orchestration and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Security Patch
A patch released specifically to address a security vulnerability or harden a system against known attack paths. In operations culture, security patches are...
Security Policy
A documented policy describing how security issues should be reported, handled, and disclosed for a project or organization. In open-source governance, a...
Security Posture
A governance or operations concept focused on security posture as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Security Release
A software release whose primary purpose is to deliver one or more security-related fixes. In maintenance culture, security releases are usually communicated...
Sensitive Data Exposure
A security concept covering sensitive data exposure and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Serialization Attack
A security attack or exploit technique associated with serialization attack in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Server-Side Request Forgery
A security concept covering server-side request forgery and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Service Account
A non-human identity used by applications, services, or automation to authenticate and interact with APIs and cloud resources. Unlike user accounts, service...
Service Principal
An identity or access control concept centered on service principal and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Session Fixation
A security concept covering session fixation and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Session Hijacking
A security attack or exploit technique associated with session hijacking in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Session Management
A governance or operations concept focused on session management as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Session Replay
A security concept covering session replay and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Shadow IT
A security concept covering shadow it and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Shift Left Security
A security concept covering shift left security and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Side-Channel Attack
A security attack or exploit technique associated with side-channel attack in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Signal Intelligence
A security concept covering signal intelligence and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Signature-Based Detection
A defensive security practice involving signature-based detection to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Single Sign-On Security
A security concept covering single sign-on security and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Smash the Stack
A phrase from classic exploitation culture referring to corrupting the call stack, especially through stack-based buffer overflows, to hijack execution. It...
Smishing
A security concept covering smishing and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Social Engineering Attack
A security attack or exploit technique associated with social engineering attack in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security,...
Software Bill of Materials
A security concept covering software bill of materials and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Software Composition Analysis
A defensive security practice involving software composition analysis to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in...
Software Supply Chain
A security concept covering software supply chain and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Spectre
A class of hardware vulnerabilities (disclosed January 2018) that exploit speculative execution in modern CPUs to trick a process into leaking data from its...
Spyware
A security attack or exploit technique associated with spyware in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Stack Smashing
A security concept covering stack smashing and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Static Analysis Tool
A tool that examines source code, bytecode, or binaries without executing the program, looking for bugs, security issues, style violations, or risky patterns....
Steganography Detection
A defensive security practice involving steganography detection to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Stored XSS
A security concept covering stored xss and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Subdomain Takeover
A security attack or exploit technique associated with subdomain takeover in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
subresource integrity
A browser security feature that verifies external resources (scripts, stylesheets) haven't been tampered with by comparing their content against a...
Supply Chain Compromise
A security concept covering supply chain compromise and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Supply Chain Nightmare
A dependency situation so tangled or risky that any compromise, update, or provenance question becomes alarming. In engineering slang, supply chain nightmare...
Suricata
An open-source intrusion detection and network security monitoring engine.
SYN Flood
A security attack or exploit technique associated with syn flood in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
System Hardening
A governance or operations concept focused on system hardening as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
System Prompt Extraction
An attack or testing technique aimed at getting a model to reveal its hidden system prompt or internal instructions.
Tabletop Exercise
A defensive security practice involving tabletop exercise to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Tailgating
A security concept covering tailgating and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Tarpit
A system, design, or environment that is easy to enter but difficult to escape because of hidden complexity, lock-in, or endless edge cases. In security, a...
TCP Reset Attack
A security attack or exploit technique associated with tcp reset attack in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Telemetry Security
A network or infrastructure security concept involving telemetry security and the protection or inspection of traffic and services. It shows up in application...
Threat Detection
A defensive security practice involving threat detection to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Threat Feed
A security concept covering threat feed and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Threat Hunting
A defensive security practice involving threat hunting to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application security,...
Threat Intelligence Platform
A security concept covering threat intelligence platform and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Threat Landscape
A governance or operations concept focused on threat landscape as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Threat Modeling
A structured process for identifying security threats, attack vectors, and mitigations during the design phase — before code is written. Common frameworks:...
Threat Surface
A governance or operations concept focused on threat surface as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Tiger Team
A small, focused group assembled to solve a high-priority problem such as an incident, security issue, launch blocker, or strategic technical challenge. The...
TLS handshake
The multi-step negotiation process that establishes an encrypted connection between a client and server. During the handshake, the parties agree on a TLS...
TOFU
Short for Trust On First Use, a security model where a key or identity is accepted the first time it is seen and treated as trusted afterward unless it...
Tor Project
The open-source project and organization behind Tor, which routes internet traffic through relays to improve privacy and anonymity.
Traffic Analysis
A defensive security practice involving traffic analysis to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Trapdoor
A security concept covering trapdoor and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Trivy
A security scanner for container images, filesystems, repositories, and related software artifacts.
Trojan Horse
A security attack or exploit technique associated with trojan horse in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Trust Anchor
A security concept covering trust anchor and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Trust Boundary
An identity or access control concept centered on trust boundary and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Trust but Verify
A principle that accepts cooperation or assumptions provisionally but still requires evidence, checks, or monitoring before relying on them completely....
Trusted Computing
A security concept covering trusted computing and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Trusted Execution Environment
A security concept covering trusted execution environment and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Trust Store
A security concept covering trust store and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Two-Factor Fatigue
The exhaustion or desensitization caused by frequent two-factor authentication prompts, which can make users careless or more susceptible to prompt-bombing...
Two-Person Integrity
A security concept covering two-person integrity and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Type Confusion
A security concept covering type confusion and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
UAC Bypass
A security attack or exploit technique associated with uac bypass in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Unauthorized Access
An identity or access control concept centered on unauthorized access and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security,...
URL Filtering
A security concept covering url filtering and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
URL Parser
A component that decomposes a URL string into its constituent parts — scheme, authority (host and port), path, query parameters, and fragment — according to...
Use After Free
A security concept covering use after free and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
User Provisioning
An identity or access control concept centered on user provisioning and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Validation
The process of checking that data conforms to expected rules — such as type, format, range, and business constraints — before it is accepted for processing or...
Vaultwarden
A lightweight self-hosted password-manager server compatible with the Bitwarden ecosystem.
VLAN
Virtual Local Area Network — a method of creating logically separate networks on the same physical switch infrastructure by tagging Ethernet frames with a VLAN...
VPC Peering
A networking connection between two Virtual Private Clouds that enables private IP communication without traversing the public internet. Traffic stays on the...
VPN Split Tunneling
A network or infrastructure security concept involving vpn split tunneling and the protection or inspection of traffic and services. It shows up in application...
VPN Tunnel
A network or infrastructure security concept involving vpn tunnel and the protection or inspection of traffic and services. It shows up in application...
Vulnerability
A security concept covering vulnerability and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Vulnerability Assessment
A defensive security practice involving vulnerability assessment to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
Vulnerability Chaining
A security concept covering vulnerability chaining and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Vulnerability Disclosure
A security concept covering vulnerability disclosure and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security,...
Vulnerability Fix
A change that removes or mitigates a specific vulnerability in software or infrastructure. In security operations, vulnerability fixes need clear mapping to...
Vulnerability Management
A governance or operations concept focused on vulnerability management as part of ongoing security management. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Vulnerability Patch
A patch issued to correct a known vulnerability or reduce the risk from it. In practical security work, vulnerability patches are judged not only by technical...
Vulnerability Report
A security disclosure submitted to a project or vendor describing a flaw, its impact, reproduction details, and often mitigation suggestions. Good...
Vulnerability Scanning
A defensive security practice involving vulnerability scanning to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
WAF Bypass
A security attack or exploit technique associated with waf bypass in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
War Dial
A security term, sometimes used slangily, for systematically calling or probing many targets to find responsive ones. In engineering talk, it also appears...
Watering Hole
A security concept covering watering hole and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Web Cache Poisoning
A security concept covering web cache poisoning and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Web Crypto API
A browser-native JavaScript API (window.crypto.subtle) that exposes cryptographic primitives — hashing (SHA-256/384/512), HMAC, symmetric encryption...
Web Shell
A security concept covering web shell and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
WebSocket Hijacking
A security attack or exploit technique associated with websocket hijacking in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
White Box Testing
A defensive security practice involving white box testing to measure exposure, improve controls, or find malicious activity. It shows up in application...
White Hat
A security researcher or hacker who works with authorization or with an explicitly defensive intent, such as improving systems through testing, audits, or...
Whitelisting
A security concept covering whitelisting and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Wide Open
Completely exposed, unrestricted, or lacking meaningful controls. In engineering slang, a system left wide open is practically inviting trouble.
Wi-Fi Deauthentication
An identity or access control concept centered on wi-fi deauthentication and how systems verify or authorize actions. It shows up in application security,...
Windows Defender
A security concept covering windows defender and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Wire Fraud
A security concept covering wire fraud and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
WireGuard
A modern VPN protocol and implementation known for simplicity, performance, and strong cryptographic design.
Wireshark Filter
A security concept covering wireshark filter and its role in protecting systems, users, data, or operations. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Worm Virus
A security attack or exploit technique associated with worm virus in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...
Yubikey Manager OSS
The open-source tooling used to manage and configure YubiKey hardware security keys and related settings.
Zero Day Exploit Culture
The norms, incentives, and prestige structures around discovering, trading, discussing, or mythologizing zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits. It spans...
Zero-Day Patch
A patch released in response to a zero-day vulnerability, often under urgent conditions because active exploitation is possible or already happening. The term...
Zip Bomb
A security attack or exploit technique associated with zip bomb in real-world systems and networks. It shows up in application security, identity,...

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