Course 2 Glossary Cybersecurity Terms

Vocabulary flashcards covering key cybersecurity terms and definitions from Course 2.

Assess

The fifth step of the NIST RMF that means to determine if established controls are implemented correctly

Asset

An item perceived as having value to an organization

Attack vectors

The pathways attackers use to penetrate security defenses

Authentication

The process of verifying who someone is

Authorization

The concept of granting access to specific resources in a system

Authorize

The sixth step of the NIST RMF that refers to being accountable for the security and privacy risks that might exist in an organization

Availability

The idea that data is accessible to those who are authorized to access it

Biometrics

The unique physical characteristics that can be used to verify a person’s identity

Business continuity

An organization's ability to maintain their everyday productivity by establishing risk disaster recovery plans

Categorize

The second step of the NIST RMF that is used to develop risk management processes and tasks

Chronicle

A cloud-native tool designed to retain, analyze, and search data

Confidentiality

The idea that only authorized users can access specific assets or data

Confidentiality, integrity, availability (CIA) triad

A model that helps inform how organizations consider risk when setting up systems and security policies

Detect

A NIST core function related to identifying potential security incidents and improving monitoring capabilities to increase the speed and efficiency of detections

Encryption

The process of converting data from a readable format to an encoded format

External threat

Anything outside the organization that has the potential to harm organizational assets

Identify

A NIST core function related to management of cybersecurity risk and its effect on an organization’s people and assets

Implement

The fourth step of the NIST RMF that means to implement security and privacy plans for an organization

Incident response

An organization’s quick attempt to identify an attack, contain the damage, and correct the effects of a security breach

Integrity

The idea that the data is correct, authentic, and reliable

Internal threat

A current or former employee, external vendor, or trusted partner who poses a security risk

Log

A record of events that occur within an organization’s systems

Metrics

Key technical attributes such as response time, availability, and failure rate, which are used to assess the performance of a software application

Monitor

The seventh step of the NIST RMF that means be aware of how systems are operating

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)

A voluntary framework that consists of standards, guidelines, and best practices to manage cybersecurity risk

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (S.P.) 800-53

A unified framework for protecting the security of information systems within the U.S. federal government

Open Web Application Security Project/Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP)

A non-profit organization focused on improving software security

Operating system (OS)

The interface between computer hardware and the user

Playbook

A manual that provides details about any operational action

Prepare

The first step of the NIST RMF related to activities that are necessary to manage security and privacy risks before a breach occurs

Protect

A NIST core function used to protect an organization through the implementation of policies, procedures, training, and tools that help mitigate cybersecurity threats

Ransomware

A malicious attack where threat actors encrypt an organization’s data and demand payment to restore access

Recover

A NIST core function related to returning affected systems back to normal operation

Respond

A NIST core function related to making sure that the proper procedures are used to contain, neutralize, and analyze security incidents, and implement improvements to the security process

Risk

Anything that can impact the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an asset

Risk mitigation

The process of having the right procedures and rules in place to quickly reduce the impact of a risk like a breach

Security audit

A review of an organization's security controls, policies, and procedures against a set of expectations

Security controls

Safeguards designed to reduce specific security risks

Security frameworks

Guidelines used for building plans to help mitigate risk and threats to data and privacy

Security information and event management (SIEM)

An application that collects and analyzes log data to monitor critical activities in an organization

Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR)

A collection of applications, tools, and workflows that use automation to respond to security events

Security posture

An organization’s ability to manage its defense of critical assets and data and react to change

Select

The third step of the NIST RMF that means to choose, customize, and capture documentation of the controls that protect an organization

Shared responsibility

The idea that all individuals within an organization take an active role in lowering risk and maintaining both physical and virtual security

Social engineering

A manipulation technique that exploits human error to gain private information, access, or valuables

Splunk Cloud

A cloud-hosted tool used to collect, search, and monitor log data

Splunk Enterprise

A self-hosted tool used to retain, analyze, and search an organization's log data to provide security information and alerts in real-time

Threat

Any circumstance or event that can negatively impact assets

Vulnerability

A weakness that can be exploited by a threat