>> TERMINAL_GLOSSARY_V.2
The definitive database of 100+ cybersecurity definitions.
SPONSORED_INTELLIGENCE
A
Advanced Persistent Threat (APT)
A stealthy threat actor, typically a nation-state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period.
#THREAT_INTEL
Adware
Software that automatically displays or downloads advertising material (often unwanted) when a user is online.
#MALWARE
Air Gap
A network security measure employed on one or more computers to ensure that a secure computer network is physically isolated from unsecured networks, such as the public Internet or an unsecured local area network.
#DEFENSE
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
A symmetric block cipher chosen by the U.S. government to protect classified information. It is implemented in software and hardware throughout the world to encrypt sensitive data.
#CRYPTOGRAPHY
API (Application Programming Interface)
A set of functions and procedures allowing the creation of applications that access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service. Often a vector for attack if unsecured.
#DEV
B
Backdoor
A means to access a computer system or encrypted data that bypasses the system's customary security mechanisms.
#MALWARE
Black Hat
A hacker who violates computer security for little reason beyond maliciousness or for personal gain.
#CULTURE
Blue Team
A group of individuals who perform an analysis of information systems to ensure security, identify security flaws, verify the effectiveness of each security measure, and make certain all security measures will continue to be effective after implementation.
#DEFENSE
Botnet
A network of private computers infected with malicious software and controlled as a group without the owners' knowledge, often used to send spam or launch DDoS attacks.
#ATTACK
Brute Force Attack
A trial and error method used by application programs to decode encrypted data such as passwords or Data Encryption Standard (DES) keys, through exhaustive effort (using brute force) rather than employing intellectual strategies.
#ATTACK
Bug Bounty
A deal offered by many websites, organizations and software developers by which individuals can receive recognition and compensation for reporting bugs, especially those pertaining to security exploits and vulnerabilities.
#RESEARCH
Burp Suite
A leading software for web application security testing. It acts as a proxy, allowing interception and modification of traffic between browser and server.
#TOOL
C
C2 (Command and Control)
A server used by an attacker to maintain communications with compromised systems within a target network.
#MALWARE
Cipher
An algorithm for performing encryption or decryption—a series of well-defined steps that can be followed as a procedure.
#CRYPTOGRAPHY
Clickjacking
A malicious technique of tricking a Web user into clicking on something different from what the user perceives they are clicking on.
#WEB_VULN
Cookie
A small piece of data sent from a website and stored on the user's computer by the user's web browser while the user is browsing. Can be stolen to hijack sessions.
#WEB
Credential Stuffing
A type of cyberattack where stolen account credentials typically consisting of lists of usernames and/or email addresses and the corresponding passwords are used to gain unauthorized access to user accounts.
#ATTACK
CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery)
An attack that forces an end user to execute unwanted actions on a web application in which they're currently authenticated.
#WEB_VULN
CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures)
A list of publicly disclosed computer security flaws. When someone refers to a CVE, they mean a security flaw that has been assigned a CVE ID number.
#STANDARD
D
Dark Web
A part of the internet that isn't indexed by search engines. You've likely heard of it as a hotbed of criminal activity — and it is. Researchers often use Tor to access it.
#NETWORK
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service)
A malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic.
#ATTACK
Deep Web
The part of the World Wide Web that is not indexed by standard web search-engines. This includes email inboxes, banking portals, and private databases.
#NETWORK
Dictionary Attack
An attempted illegal entry to a computer system that uses a dictionary headword list to generate possible passwords.
#ATTACK
Dorking (Google Hacking)
The use of advanced search operators within a search engine to locate specific strings of text or security vulnerabilities that are not readily visible.
#OSINT
Doxing
The act of publicly revealing previously private personal information about an individual or organization, usually through the Internet.
#ATTACK
E
Encryption
The process of encoding a message or information in such a way that only authorized parties can access it and those who are not authorized cannot.
#CRYPTOGRAPHY
Exif Data
Metadata embedded within image files that can contain information about the camera, settings, and sometimes GPS location coordinates.
#OSINT
Exploit
Code that takes advantage of a software vulnerability or security flaw. It allows an attacker to remotely access a network or gain administrator privileges.
#OFFENSIVE
Exploit Kit
A toolkit used to automate the exploitation of client-side vulnerabilities, usually targeting browsers and plugins.
#TOOL
F
Firewall
A network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
#DEFENSE
Forensics
The application of investigation and analysis techniques to gather and preserve evidence from a particular computing device in a way that is suitable for presentation in a court of law.
#INVESTIGATION
Fuzzing
A quality assurance technique used to discover coding errors and security loopholes in software, operating systems or networks by inputting massive amounts of random data, called fuzz, to the system in an attempt to make it crash.
#TESTING
G
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation. A legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information from individuals who live in the European Union (EU).
#LEGAL
Grey Hat
A computer security expert who may sometimes violate laws or typical ethical standards, but does not have the malicious intent characteristic of a black hat hacker.
#CULTURE
H
Hash
A mathematical function that converts a numerical input value into another compressed numerical value. Essential for verifying data integrity and storing passwords securely (e.g., MD5, SHA-256).
#CRYPTOGRAPHY
Honeypot
A decoy computer system for trapping hackers or tracking new hacking methods. Honeypots are designed to purposely engage and deceive hackers and identify malicious activities.
#DEFENSE
HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. An extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet.
#PROTOCOL
I
IDS (Intrusion Detection System)
A device or software application that monitors a network or system for malicious activity or policy violations.
#DEFENSE
IoT (Internet of Things)
The interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data. Often insecure.
#HARDWARE
IP Address
A unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network.
#NETWORK
K
Keylogger
A type of surveillance software (considered to be either software or spyware) that has the capability to record every keystroke you make to a log file, usually encrypted.
#MALWARE
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.
#MALWARE
M
Malware
Software that is specifically designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Includes viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, etc.
#MALWARE
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM)
An attack where the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other.
#ATTACK
Metadata
Data that provides information about other data. For example, the author, date created, date modified, and file size are examples of document metadata.
#OSINT
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
An electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence (or factors).
#DEFENSE
O
Open Port
A TCP or UDP port number that is configured to accept packets. In contrast, a port which rejects connections or ignores all packets directed at it is a closed port.
#NETWORK
OSINT (Open Source Intelligence)
Data collected from publicly available sources to be used in an intelligence context. Sources include social media, public records, and the surface web.
#OSINT
P
Packet Sniffer
Software or hardware used to collect data traveling over a network. Can be used legitimately for troubleshooting or maliciously to capture data.
#TOOL
Patch
A set of changes to a computer program or its supporting data designed to update, fix, or improve it. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs.
#DEFENSE
Payload
The component of a computer virus or exploit which executes a malicious activity. It is the "warhead" delivered by the exploit.
#OFFENSIVE
Penetration Testing (Pentesting)
The practice of testing a computer system, network or web application to find security vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit.
#OFFENSIVE
Phishing
The fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
#ATTACK
PII (Personally Identifiable Information)
Information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context.
#PRIVACY
Proxy
A server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. Used to hide IP addresses or bypass filters.
#NETWORK
R
Ransomware
A type of malware that threatens to publish the victim's data or perpetually block access to it unless a ransom is paid.
#MALWARE
RAT (Remote Access Trojan)
A malware program that includes a back door for administrative control over the target computer.
#MALWARE
Red Team
An independent group that challenges an organization to improve its effectiveness by assuming an adversarial role or point of view.
#OFFENSIVE
Rootkit
A collection of computer software, typically malicious, designed to enable access to a computer or an area of its software that is not otherwise allowed (for example, to an unauthorized user) and often masks its existence or the existence of other software.
#MALWARE
S
Salt
Random data that is used as an additional input to a one-way function that hashes data, a password or passphrase. It protects against dictionary attacks and rainbow table attacks.
#CRYPTOGRAPHY
Sandbox
A security mechanism for separating running programs, usually in an effort to mitigate system failures or software vulnerabilities from spreading.
#DEFENSE
Script Kiddie
A derogatory term for a person who uses existing computer scripts or code to hack into computers, lacking the expertise to write their own.
#CULTURE
Shodan
A search engine that lets the user find specific types of computers (webcams, routers, servers, etc.) connected to the internet using a variety of filters.
#TOOL
Social Engineering
The psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.
#ATTACK
Spear Phishing
An email or electronic communications scam targeted towards a specific individual, organization or business.
#ATTACK
Spoofing
A situation in which a person or program successfully identifies as another by falsifying data, to gain an illegitimate advantage.
#ATTACK
SQL Injection (SQLi)
A code injection technique used to attack data-driven applications, in which malicious SQL statements are inserted into an entry field for execution.
#WEB_VULN
SSH (Secure Shell)
A cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network.
#PROTOCOL
T
Tor (The Onion Router)
Free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication. It directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer overlay network.
#PRIVACY
Trojan Horse
Any malicious computer program which misleads users of its true intent.
#MALWARE
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
A subset of Multi-factor authentication that requires exactly two factors to verify the user.
#DEFENSE
V
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the internet.
#PRIVACY
Vulnerability
A weakness which can be exploited by a threat actor, such as an attacker, to cross privilege boundaries (i.e. perform unauthorized actions) within a computer system.
#GENERAL
W
WAF (Web Application Firewall)
A specific form of application firewall that filters, monitors, and blocks HTTP traffic to and from a web service.
#DEFENSE
White Hat
An ethical computer hacker, or a computer security expert, who specializes in penetration testing and in other testing methodologies that ensures the security of an organization's information systems.
#CULTURE
Whois
A query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users or assignees of an Internet resource, such as a domain name.
#OSINT
Worm
A standalone malware computer program that replicates itself in order to spread to other computers.
#MALWARE
X
XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
A type of security vulnerability typically found in web applications. XSS attacks enable attackers to inject client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users.
#WEB_VULN
Z
Zero-Day
A computer-software vulnerability that is unknown to those who would be interested in mitigating the vulnerability (including the vendor).
#CRITICAL