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Cybersecurity and IT Terms Everyone Should Know, K to P
Our cybersecurity and IT terms series continues as part of an important effort to keep your people educated on security and IT terminology. Knowledge is power and in this case it’s also peace of mind and increased protection for your brand and the people that believe in it.
Keeping your team-whether IT and cybersecurity focused or not-up to date is essential to maintaining your network and limiting harmful downtime and disruption. The best IT and security operations are a delicate balance of technological prowess and staff awareness. For every intricate hack that succeeds, there’s a simple phishing attack that can penetrate a network. Both fronts need to be maintained.
Here is this installment of cybersecurity and IT terms everyone should know, K to S:
Keystroke Logger
A virus or physical device that logs keystrokes to secretly capture private information such as passwords or credit card details.
Knowledge Management
Cybersecurity work where a person manages and administers processes and tools that enable the organization to identify, document, and access important information.
Least Privilege
Least privilege is the security principle of allowing users the least amount of permissions necessary to perform their intended function. This reduces the risk posed by compromised accounts.
LINUX
An open-source operating system that runs on a number of hardware platforms including PCs, Servers and many Internet-of-Things devices. Linux is freely available over the Internet.
Log Clipping
Log clipping is the selective removal of log entries from a system log. This behavior is commonly used by attackers to hide their tracks on a compromised system.
Malware
Short for “malicious software,” malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on a computer system.
A work arrangement in which clients offload specific IT operations to a managed services provider (MSP). The managed services provider assumes ongoing responsibility for monitoring, managing, and maintaining the selected IT systems and functions on the client’s behalf.
Man-in-the-Middle Attack
A common attack where an attacker surreptitiously puts themselves between two parties, impersonating them. This allows the malicious attacker to intercept and potentially alter their communication. With this type of attack, an attacker can passively listen in, relaying messages and data between the two parties, or even alter and manipulate the data flow.
Network Mapping
Network mapping is the study of physical connectivity of networks. It is used to compile an electronic inventory of the systems and the services on any network. With the increase in complexities of networks, automated network mapping has become more popular.
Network Protocol
A set of rules governing communication between devices on a network. Some commonly used network protocols are Internet Protocol (IP), HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and Domain Name System (DNS).
Open Source
Software whose source code is made available through an open-source license in which the copyright holder grants the right to study, change, and distribute the software for free.
Operating System (OS)
Software that manages hardware resources and provides common services for executing various applications on a computer. Windows 10 and Mac OS X are operating systems; so are Android and iOS.
Partitioning
Partitioning a hard drive is a way to logically separate one hard drive in to multiple storage volumes. This is done so a client can only access resources on the “partition” it has access to but cannot encroach on other partitions’ resources.
Phishing is a type of online scam where criminals send an email that appears to be from a legitimate company and ask you to provide sensitive information. This is usually done by including a link that will appear to take you to the company’s website to fill in your information – but the website is a clever fake and the information you provide goes straight to the crooks behind the scam.
PING
Packet Internet Groper; a utility used to test the reachability of a host on an IP network. It measures the round trip time between the source and the destination computers.
Platform-as-a-Service
A cloud computing service model in which a service provider offers clients the use of a platform for developing and managing software. As part of this service model, which is abbreviated as “PaaS,” clients access applications over the Internet. PaaS clients do not need to purchase in-house IT infrastructure for managing and developing software, since their service provider handles this for them.
Privilege Management
Managing the data and activities permitted to users of a system or network, differentiating users on the basis of the level of authority they have within the system.
Proxy Server
A server that acts as an intermediary between users and others servers, validating user requests. These are often used in secure environments to ensure computers are communicating with a trusted source.
American Technology Services provides the oversight, technology and support that your organization needs to stay on top of security threats and to keep your IT infrastructure running smoothly. We hope you can share these terms with your team to keep them protecting the digital front lines of your organization.
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