Quick definitions for terms used across the AYSEC tracks.
Quick definitions for terms used across the AYSEC tracks.
ACL — Access Control List. Set of rules defining who can access what.
Active Directory (AD) — Microsoft's directory and identity service.
ALE — Annualized Loss Expectancy = SLE × ARO. Classic quantitative risk formula.
AMSI — Antimalware Scan Interface. Windows component scanning script content.
APT — Advanced Persistent Threat. Sophisticated, long-dwell attacker.
ARP — Address Resolution Protocol. Maps IP → MAC on the local link.
Asset — Anything you protect (data, system, reputation).
ATT&CK — MITRE's adversary technique taxonomy.
Attestation — Statement (often from an auditor) that controls operate effectively.
Authentication — Proving identity.
Authorization — Determining what an authenticated party can do.
AV — Antivirus.
BAA — Business Associate Agreement (HIPAA).
Beacon — A C2 implant that periodically calls home.
BOLA — Broken Object Level Authorization (OWASP API Top 10 #1).
BSCP — Burp Suite Certified Practitioner.
CA — Certificate Authority.
CAIQ — Consensus Assessment Initiative Questionnaire (CSA).
Capstone — Final, integrative project for a track.
CAPEC — Common Attack Pattern Enumeration & Classification.
CDE — Cardholder Data Environment (PCI-DSS scope).
CEH — Certified Ethical Hacker (EC-Council).
CIA Triad — Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.
CIDR — Classless Inter-Domain Routing. Notation like /24.
CIS Controls — Practical control set (currently v8).
CISA — Certified Information Systems Auditor (ISACA). Also: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (US gov).
CISM — Certified Information Security Manager (ISACA).
CISO — Chief Information Security Officer.
CISSP — Certified Information Systems Security Professional ((ISC)²).
CNAPP — Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform.
Compliance — Evidence of meeting external/internal obligations.
Containment — Stopping an incident from spreading further.
CORS — Cross-Origin Resource Sharing.
CRISC — Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (ISACA).
CSP — Content Security Policy.
CSPM — Cloud Security Posture Management.
CSRF — Cross-Site Request Forgery.
CTI — Cyber Threat Intelligence.
CVE — Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures.
CVSS — Common Vulnerability Scoring System (currently v3.1, v4.0 emerging).
CWE — Common Weakness Enumeration.
CWPP — Cloud Workload Protection Platform.
DAST — Dynamic Application Security Testing.
DC — Domain Controller (AD).
DCSync — AD attack: replicate domain credentials.
DDoS — Distributed Denial of Service.
Defense-in-Depth — Layered controls philosophy.
DLP — Data Loss Prevention.
DMARC — Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance.
DNS — Domain Name System.
DPA — Data Processing Addendum (GDPR).
DPIA — Data Protection Impact Assessment (GDPR).
DPDPA — Digital Personal Data Protection Act (India).
DRP — Disaster Recovery Plan.
DSAR — Data Subject Access Request.
E01 — EnCase Evidence File (forensic image format).
eJPT — eLearnSecurity Junior Penetration Tester (now INE).
EDR — Endpoint Detection and Response.
EPSS — Exploit Prediction Scoring System.
ETW — Event Tracing for Windows.
Exploit — Code that triggers a vulnerability.
FAIR — Factor Analysis of Information Risk.
FedRAMP — US federal cloud authorization.
Forensic Soundness — Evidence handling that survives legal review.
Forward Secrecy — Property where past sessions stay secret if private key leaks later.
GDPR — EU General Data Protection Regulation.
GIAC — Global Information Assurance Certification (SANS-affiliated).
Govern (CSF 2.0) — The new top-level Function in NIST CSF 2.0.
GovCloud — AWS US government cloud.
GRC — Governance, Risk, Compliance.
HIBP — Have I Been Pwned.
HIPAA — Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (US).
HMAC — Keyed-hash Message Authentication Code.
HSTS — HTTP Strict Transport Security.
IAM — Identity and Access Management.
IDOR — Insecure Direct Object Reference.
IMDS — Instance Metadata Service (AWS).
IOC / IoC — Indicator of Compromise.
IR — Incident Response.
ISMS — Information Security Management System (ISO 27001).
ISO 27001 — International ISMS standard.
JTAG — Hardware debug interface.
JWT — JSON Web Token.
Kerberoasting — AD attack against service-account tickets.
Kerberos — Modern AD authentication protocol.
KEV — Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (CISA).
KMS — Key Management Service.
KQL — Kusto Query Language (Microsoft Sentinel / Defender).
KRBTGT — Special AD account whose hash signs all TGTs.
LDAP — Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.
LOLBin / LOLBAS — Living-off-the-land binary; Microsoft-signed binary abused for malicious purposes.
LSASS — Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (Windows).
Malware — Any malicious software.
MASTG — OWASP Mobile App Security Testing Guide.
MDR — Managed Detection and Response.
MFA — Multi-Factor Authentication.
MITRE ATT&CK — Adversary technique knowledge base.
MTTD / MTTR — Mean Time to Detect / Respond.
NAC — Network Access Control.
NDA — Non-Disclosure Agreement.
NIST — National Institute of Standards and Technology (US).
NIST CSF — NIST Cybersecurity Framework (2.0 in 2024).
NIS2 — EU directive on network and information security (2024+).
NOC — Network Operations Center.
NTLM — Legacy Windows authentication protocol.
OAuth — Authorization framework.
OIDC — OpenID Connect (auth on top of OAuth 2.0).
OPA — Open Policy Agent.
OSCP — OffSec Certified Professional.
OWASP — Open Web Application Security Project.
Patch — Update fixing a vulnerability.
PCI-DSS — Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
Pentest — Authorized simulated attack.
PII — Personally Identifiable Information.
PIM — Privileged Identity Management (Entra ID).
PKI — Public Key Infrastructure.
PSA — Pod Security Admission (replaces PSP in K8s).
PtH / PtT — Pass-the-Hash / Pass-the-Ticket.
RAT — Remote Access Trojan.
RBAC — Role-Based Access Control.
RBCD — Resource-Based Constrained Delegation (AD).
RCE — Remote Code Execution.
Red Team — Authorized adversary emulation; broader than pentest.
RFI — Request for Information.
Risk — Combination of likelihood + impact.
RoE — Rules of Engagement.
ROPA — Record of Processing Activities (GDPR Art 30).
ROP — Return-Oriented Programming.
RPO / RTO — Recovery Point / Time Objective.
SAML — Security Assertion Markup Language.
SANS — Training organization (SANS Institute) and the GIAC parent.
SAST — Static Application Security Testing.
SCA — Software Composition Analysis.
SCC — Standard Contractual Clauses (EU).
SCP — Service Control Policy (AWS Org).
SDLC — Software Development Life Cycle.
SecOps — Security Operations.
SeImpersonatePrivilege — Windows privilege underlying "Potato" privescs.
SIEM — Security Information and Event Management.
Sigma — SIEM-agnostic detection rule format (YAML).
SLSA — Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts.
SOAR — Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response.
SOC — Security Operations Center.
SOC 2 — AICPA service-organization attestation.
SOP — Same-Origin Policy.
SOW — Statement of Work.
SPF — Sender Policy Framework (TXT record listing authorized senders).
SQLi — SQL Injection.
SSDLC — Secure SDLC.
SSE — Server-Side Encryption.
SSO — Single Sign-On.
SSPM — SaaS Security Posture Management.
SSRF — Server-Side Request Forgery.
SSTI — Server-Side Template Injection.
STIX — Structured Threat Information eXpression.
TAXII — Transport for STIX.
TCP/IP — The internet protocol suite.
Threat — Actor or event with potential to harm.
TLS — Transport Layer Security (replaces SSL).
TPM — Trusted Platform Module.
TTP — Tactics, Techniques, Procedures.
UAC — User Account Control (Windows).
UAL — Unified Audit Log (Microsoft 365).
Vulnerability — A weakness exploitable by a threat.
VAPT — Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing.
VDP — Vulnerability Disclosure Program.
WAF — Web Application Firewall.
WORM — Write Once Read Many (immutable storage).
XSS — Cross-Site Scripting.
XXE — XML External Entity.
YARA — Pattern-matching language for malware classification.
Zero-day — A vulnerability not publicly known.
Zero Trust — Architectural philosophy: verify explicitly, least privilege, assume breach.