Cybersecurity Glossary: Terms, Concepts & Definitions Explained

A

3 terms

Asset Discovery

Asset discovery is a critical process for identifying and tracking all hardware and software within an organization, enabling better security, compliance, and cost management across your technology landscape.

Attack Surface Monitoring

Attack surface monitoring finds and tracks every entry point hackers could use before they do—here's how it works and why it matters.

Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)

Learn how Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) enables fine-grained, context-aware access decisions by evaluating user, resource, and environmental attributes replacing static role-based models with dynamic, adaptive security.

B

1 term

Botnets

Understand how botnets, which is a network of millions of compromised devices controlled by attackers, execute massive DDoS attacks, spam campaigns, and data theft.

C

3 terms

Cloud Jacking

Cloud jacking is an identity-driven cyberattack where threat actors hijack cloud accounts and control planes to stealthily exploit resources and exfiltrate data without using malware.

Continuous Compliance

Continuous compliance uses real-time monitoring and automation to keep businesses secure, reduce risk, and simplify audits without increasing headcount.

Control Mapping

Control mapping is the strategic process of linking internal security safeguards to multiple regulatory requirements, enabling organizations to "build once and comply many times."

D

1 term

Data Loss Prevention

Move beyond reactive alerts with a comprehensive guide to Data Loss Prevention (DLP)—transforming data security into a proactive, automated defense that secures sensitive assets across cloud, endpoints, and networks.

E

1 term

Exposure Management

Exposure management is the practice of continuously identifying, prioritizing, and reducing security weaknesses across an organization’s entire digital attack surface.

F

1 term

Fileless Malware

Fileless malware executes entirely in memory using trusted system tools, allowing attackers to stay hidden longer and bypass traditional, file-based security defenses.

G

1 term

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

GDPR is a landmark data protection regulation that gives individuals greater control over their personal data while holding organizations globally accountable for how that data is collected, processed, and protected.

H

1 term

Hybrid Cloud Security

Hybrid cloud security protects data and workloads across on-premises and cloud environments by unifying visibility, enforcing consistent policies, and adapting defenses to a distributed, constantly changing attack surface.

I

2 terms

Insider Threats

Insider threats exploit trusted access and everyday behavior, making them harder to detect and often more damaging than external cyberattacks.

Incident Escalation

Incident escalation is the formal process of transferring responsibility to higher-level experts or management to ensure complex security threats are resolved swiftly and effectively.

J

1 term

JWT (JSON Web Token)

JSON Web Tokens enable fast, stateless authentication across APIs and distributed systems—but only when implemented and validated with strong security discipline.

K

1 term

Kerberos

Kerberos secures network authentication using encrypted tickets, enabling safe, scalable, and single sign-on access while minimizing credential exposure and replay attacks.

L

1 term

Logic Bombs

Logic bombs are stealthy, trigger-based cyber threats that lie dormant within legitimate systems until activated, causing disruption, data loss, or financial damage.

M

2 terms

Malware

Malware is malicious software designed to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to computers and networks.

Mean Time to Respond (MTTR)

Slow MTTR isn’t just a technical problem—it’s the result of alert overload, manual processes, fragmented tools, and missing context that delay response and increase business risk.

N

1 term

Network Access Control (NAC)

Network Access Control (NAC) ensures only authorized and compliant devices can access your network, reducing risk and enforcing security policies in real time.

O

1 term

OSINT (Open Source Intelligence)

OSINT turns publicly available information into actionable intelligence for cybersecurity, risk management, and threat detection.

P

1 term

Penetration Testing (Pentesting)

Penetration testing simulates real-world cyberattacks to identify exploitable vulnerabilities and measure true business risk before attackers do.

Q

1 term

QR Code Phishing (Quishing)

QR code phishing (“quishing”) hides malicious links inside scannable codes, bypassing traditional email defenses and targeting mobile users to steal credentials or deploy malware.

R

1 term

Risk Acceptance

Risk acceptance is a deliberate decision to acknowledge a cybersecurity or business risk without taking immediate mitigation steps.

S

3 terms

Security Case Management

Modern security teams face an overwhelming volume of alerts, incidents, and investigative tasks. Security operations centers (SOCs) must track suspicious activity, investigate threats, coordinate responses, and document every action taken during an incident. Without a structured system, investigations often become fragmented—spread across emails, spreadsheets, ticketing systems, and multiple security tools. Security case management addresses this...

Shift Left Security

Shift left security embeds automated security checks into design and development so teams catch and fix vulnerabilities early—reducing costs, accelerating releases, and preventing production-stage fire drills.

SOC2

SOC 2 is a compliance framework that evaluates how organizations protect customer data using the Trust Services Criteria of security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.

T

1 term

Threat Exposure Management (TEM)

TEM shifts your security team from chasing vulnerabilities to managing real attacker risk continuously.

U

1 term

Unauthorized Access

Unauthorized access occurs when a person gains entry to systems, data, or accounts without permission, often becoming the starting point of a larger security breach.

V

1 term

Vulnerability Prioritization

Prioritize vulnerabilities based on real-world risk—not just severity—to reduce remediation backlog, improve MTTR, and focus on what truly threatens your business.

W

1 term

Workload Security

Workload security protects the applications, services, and computing resources running in cloud and data-center environments from vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and active cyber threats.

X

1 term

XDR – Extended Detection and Response

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) unifies threat detection, investigation, and response across endpoints, networks, cloud, and identity layers.

Y

1 term

YAML Security Configuration

YAML security configuration defines how to safely structure YAML files to prevent misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in applications and infrastructure.

Z

1 term

Zero-Day Vulnerability

A zero-day vulnerability is a previously unknown software flaw that attackers can exploit before developers release a fix.