ACRONYMS 👨🏻🏫
ACL = Access Control List
AH = Authentication Header; authenticates and verifies integrity of IP packets
without encryption.
AIS = Automated Information System; can be an email platform, HR/Payroll system,
banking app, military or hospital command system—anything that automates
information processing and must be protected by cybersecurity rules.
ALE = Annualized Loss Expectancy; expected financial loss per year from a specific
risk.
AP = Access Point; generic connection point (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi).
ARO = Annualized Rate of Occurrence; how many times a specific risk is expected to
occur per year.
AV = AntiVirus
BYOD = Bring Your Own Device; using personal devices inside a company network.
BYOPC = Bring Your Own Personal Computer
Certificate & Cryptography
CA = Certificate Authority; issues digital certificates to verify identities.
CRL = Certificate Revocation List
CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility; business model focusing on societal and
environmental responsibility.
CVE = Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures
OCSP = Online Certificate Status Protocol
PKI = Public Key Infrastructure
SSH Key = Secure Shell Key; provides passwordless remote access to Linux servers
Cloud & Services
XaaS = Anything as a Service; cloud delivery model; SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc. are types
of XaaS services.
SaaS = Software as a Service; cloud software applications (e.g., Office 365,
Salesforce).
PaaS = Platform as a Service; cloud platform for developing, testing, and deploying
apps without managing infrastructure (e.g., AWS Elastic Beanstalk).
IaaS = Infrastructure as a Service; virtualized computing resources like servers,
storage, networking (e.g., AWS EC2).
DBaaS = Database as a Service; managed cloud databases (e.g., Amazon RDS).
STaaS = Storage as a Service; cloud storage for files/data (e.g., Google Drive, AWS
S3).
SECaaS = Security as a Service; cloud-delivered security services like firewalls,
antivirus, and identity management.
RAD = Company providing AI-driven security solutions for cloud environments.
MSP = Managed Service Provider; monitors systems and provides alerts on updates
or changes needed.
Networking
LAN = Local Area Network; small area, wired/wireless.
WAN = Wide Area Network; covers countries/continents (Internet, multinational
companies).
VLAN = Virtual Local Area Network
WLAN = Wireless LAN; Wi-Fi-based LAN.
MAN = Metropolitan Area Network; covers a city network.
PAN = Personal Area Network; very small, connects personal devices (Bluetooth,
hotspot).
CAN = Campus Area Network; connects multiple LANs in a campus or company site.
NAT = Network Address Translation; translates private IPs to public IPs while hiding
internal addresses.
NAT Gateway = Network Address Translation Gateway; managed NAT service in
cloud environments.
WAP = Wireless Access Point; connects wireless devices to wired network.
Security & Protocols
IPS = Intrusion Prevention System
IDP = Intrusion Detection and Prevention
IPSec = Internet Protocol Security; secures IP traffic via encryption, authentication,
and integrity.
ESP = Encapsulating Security Payload; encrypts and authenticates IP traffic for VPN
communication.
NGFW = Next-Generation Firewall; advanced firewall with additional security
features.
DLP = Data Loss Prevention; protects sensitive data from unauthorized access,
transmission, or leakage.
SIEM = Security Information and Event Management
SoC = Security Operations Center; team/facility monitoring and responding to threats.
UTM = Unified Threat Management; multi-function security appliance integrating
protections.
SCP = Secure Copy Protocol; secure file transfer over SSH (outdated; SFTP
preferred).
SFTP = Secure File Transfer Protocol; encrypted file transfer over SSH.
FTP = File Transfer Protocol
CHAP = Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol; one-way authentication
using MD5.
MC-CHAP = Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol.
PAP = Password Authentication Protocol.
MAC Filtering = Media Access Control Filtering; controls network access based on
MAC addresses.
SCAP = Security Content Automation Protocol; NIST framework for vulnerability
and compliance automation.
Risk & Metrics
ALE = Annualized Loss Expectancy; expected financial loss per year from a specific
risk.
ARO = Annualized Rate of Occurrence; expected frequency of a risk.
SLE = Single Loss Expectancy; estimated financial loss from a single incident.
IoC = Indicator of Compromise; sign that a system or network may be hacked or
infected.
Software & Development
OOP = Object Oriented Programming; coding paradigm using objects.
SDLC = Software Development Life Cycle
SDN = Software-Defined Networking; centralized, software-controlled network
management.
EOL = End Of Life; software or hardware no longer supported or updated.
Hardware & Devices
HSM = Hardware Security Module; securely stores and manages cryptographic keys.
NAS = Network-Attached Storage; centralized file storage for multiple users.
UEFI = Unified Extensible Firmware Interface