Category: IT Dictionary

WPA: Wi-Fi Protected Access; a standard designed to improve on the security features of WEP.

WLAN: Wireless Local Area Network; the computers and devices that make up a wireless network.

Wireless (networking): The ability to access the Internet without a physical network connection. Devices such as cell phones and PDAs that allow you to send and receive email use a wireless Internet connection based on a protocol called WAP (Wireless Application Protocol). At this point, web sites that contain wireless Internet content are limited, but will multiply as the use of devices relying on WAP increases.

Windows: A casual way of referring to the Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Window: On a graphical user interface system, a rectangular area on a display screen. Windows are particularly useful on multitasking systems which allow you to perform a number of different tasks simultaneously. Each task has its own window which you can click on to make it the current process. Contrast to a “dialog box” which is used to respond to prompts for input from an application.

Wi-Fi: Wireless Fidelity; A generic term from the Wi-Fi Alliance that refers to of any type of 802.11 network (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc.). Products approved as “Wi-Fi Certified” (a registered trademark) are certified as inter-operable with each other for wireless communications.

WEP: Wired Equivalent Privacy; a security protocol for wireless local area networks defined in the 802.11b standard. WEP provides the same level of security as that of a wired LAN.

WAP: Wireless Application Protocol; a set of communication protocols for enabling wireless access to the Internet.

VPN: Virtual Private Networking; a means of securely accessing resources on a network by connecting to a remote access server through the Internet or other network.

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol; a means of using the Internet as the transmission medium for phone calls. An advantage is you do not incur any additional surcharges beyond the cost of your Internet access.

Virtualization: Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as a hardware platform, operating system, a storage device or network resources. In hardware virtualization, the term host machine refers to the actual machine on which the virtualization takes place; the term guest machine, however, refers to the virtual machine.

USB port: An interface used for connecting a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device to computer; these ports support plug and play.

URL: A uniform resource locator, or URL, is also known as a web address. The current URL is displayed in your web browser’s address bar.

Username: A name used in conjunction with a password to gain access to a computer system or a network service.

USB: Universal Serial Bus; a connector on the back of almost any new computer that allows you to quickly and easily attach external devices such as mice, joysticks or flight yokes, printers, scanners, modems, speakers, digital cameras or webcams, or external storage devices.

Unified Threat Management (UTM): Unified threat management is an approach to information security where a single hardware or software installation provides multiple security functions. This contrasts with the traditional method of having point solutions for each security function. 

Two-factor authentication (2FA): An extra level of security achieved using a security token device; users have a personal identification number (PIN) that identifies them as the owner of a particular token. The token displays a number which is entered following the PIN number to uniquely identify the owner to a particular network service. The identification number for each user is changed frequently, usually every few minutes.

Teams / Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform in Office 365 that combines persistent workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration.

TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol; an agreed upon set of rules that tells computers how to exchange information over the Internet. Other Internet protocols like FTP, Gopher, and HTTP sit on top of TCP/IP.

System Hardening: The process of securing a system by reducing its surface of vulnerability, which is larger when a system performs more functions; in principle, a single-function system is more secure than a multipurpose one. Reducing available ways of attack typically includes changing default passwords, the removal of unnecessary software, unnecessary usernames or logins, and the disabling or removal of unnecessary services.

Switch: A switch serves as a controller, enabling networked devices to talk to each other efficiently. Through information sharing and resource allocation, switches save businesses money and increase employee productivity.

What is a Network Switch: Unmanaged Switches: An unmanaged switch works right out of the box. It’s not designed to be configured, so you don’t have to worry about installing or setting it up correctly. Unmanaged switches have less network capacity than managed switches. You’ll usually find unmanaged switches in home networking equipment.

What is a Network Switch: Managed Switches: A managed network switch is configurable, offering greater flexibility and capacity than an unmanaged switch. You can monitor and adjust a managed switch locally or remotely, to give you greater network control.

SSL: Small data files that digitally bind a cryptographic key to an organization’s details. When installed on a web server, it activates the padlock and the https protocol (over port 443) and allows secure connections from a web server to a browser. Typically, SSL is used to secure credit card transactions, data transfer and logins, and more recently is becoming the norm when securing browsing of social media sites. SSL Certificates bind together:

A domain name, server name or hostname.

An organizational identity (i.e. company name) and location.

An organization needs to install the SSL Certificate onto its web server to initiate secure sessions with browsers. Depending on the type of SSL Certificate applied for, the organization will need to go through differing levels of vetting. Once installed, it is possible to connect to the website over https://www.domain.com, as this tells the server to establish a secure connection with the browser. Once a secure connection is established, all web traffic between the web server and the web browser will be secure. To view the details of an SSL Certificate, go to a secure site, click on the padlock and select “View Certificate”. All browsers are slightly different, but the Certificate always contains the same information.

Spear Phishing: Phishing attempts directed at specific individuals or companies is known as spear phishing. In contrast to bulk phishing, spear phishing attackers often gather and use personal information about their target to increase their probability of success.

Spam: Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email (UBE), is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. Spammers collect email addresses from chatrooms, websites, customer lists, newsgroups, and viruses which harvest users’ address books, and are sold to other spammers.

Software-defined security: Software-defined security is a set of the security model in which the information security in a computing environment is regulated and managed by security software. Most of the security controls like segmentation of the network, detection of intrusions, and access control are automated and they are controlled through security software. Software-defined security is utilized in IT environments that utilize services of the cloud. 

Software-defined networking: Software-defined networking (SDN) technology is an approach to network management that enables dynamic, programmatically efficient network configuration in order to improve network performance and monitoring, making it more like cloud computing than tradition(IT Glossary)al network management.

Software-defined data center: Software-defined data center is a marketing term that extends virtualization concepts such as abstraction, pooling, and automation to all data center resources and services to achieve IT as a service.

Software as a Service (SaaS): Software as a service is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is sometimes referred to as “on-demand software”.

Software: Any program that performs a specific function. Examples: word processing, spreadsheet calculations, or electronic mail.

Social Engineering: Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into giving up confidential information, usually through technology. Social engineering aims to take advantage of a potential victim’s natural tendencies and emotional reactions.

SOC-as-a-service: A subscription- or software-based service that manages and monitors your logs, devices, clouds, network and assets for internal IT teams. The service provides companies with the knowledge and skills necessary to combat cyber-security threats.

SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol; a method of handling outgoing electronic mail.

SMPT: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is an Internet standard for e-mail transmission.

SMB: The Server Message Block Protocol (SMB protocol) provides a method for client applications in a computer to read and write to files on and to request services from server programs in a computer network.

SIEM: Security information and event management (SIEM), software products and services combine security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM). They provide real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware.

SID: Service Set Identifier; a name that identifies a wireless network.

Service Level Agreement (SLA): A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract that establishes a set of deliverables that one party (the service provider) has agreed to provide another (the client). An SLA defines the level of service you can expect from a vendor, laying out the metrics by which service is measured, as well as remedies or penalties should agreed-upon service levels not be achieved. It is a critical component of any technology vendor contract.

Serial port: An interface on a computer that supports transmission of a single bit at a time; can be used for connecting almost any type of external device including a mouse, a modem, or a printer.

SAN: A storage area network (SAN) is a dedicated storage network that provides access to consolidated, block level storage. SANs primarily are used to make storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes) accessible to servers so that the devices appear as locally attached to the operating system. A SAN typically has its own network of storage devices that are generally not accessible through the regular network by regular devices.

Risk Management: Risk management is the application of principles to manage the risks in a business that come with the ownership, involvement, operation, influence, adoption and use of IT in an organization.: Risk management is the application of principles to manage the risks in a business that come with the ownership, involvement, operation, influence, adoption and use of IT in an organization.

Risk Assessment: A risk assessment is the combined effort of identifying and analyzing potential events that may negatively impact a business. Risk assessments help guide an organization in making rational decisions to improve their security posture and align risk with acceptable tolerance levels.

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM): Remote monitoring and management is the process of supervising and controlling IT systems by using locally installed agents that can be accessed by a managed IT service provider.

Remote login: An interactive connection from your desktop computer over a network or telephone lines to a computer in another location (remote site).

Remote desktop: A Windows feature that allows you to have access to a Windows session from another computer in a different location

Recovery Time Objective (RTO): Recovery Time Objective (RTO) represents the amount of time an application can be down and not result in significant damage to a business and the time that it takes for the system to go from loss to recovery .

Recovery Point Objective (RPO): Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is an important part of an IT Disaster Recovery plan and describes a period of time in which business operations must be restored following a disruptive event, such as a cyberattack, natural disaster or communications failure. RPO is typically paired with Recovery Time Objective (RTO).

Ransomware: Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware, designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid. Ransomware typically spreads through phishing emails or by unknowingly visiting an infected website.

RAM: Random Access Memory provides space for your computer to read and write data so that the CPU can find it quickly and easily. When people refer to memory upgrades they are usually talking about RAM.

Professional Services Automation (PSA): Professional Services Automation is software, such as ConnectWise, designed to assist IT consultants and other service providers with project management and resource management for client projects and utilization rate management for billable staff.

Proactive Monitoring: Proactive monitoring (often referred to as Remote Monitoring and Management or “RMM”) continually monitors the stability and security of your IT system for maximum uptime. It tracks and maintains your desktops, routers, mobile devices, and networks from a centralized console.

Port: When an application wants to send or receive traffic, it has to use a numbered port between 1 to 65535. This is how you can have multiple applications on a computer using the network and each application knows which traffic is for it.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): Platform as a service (PaaS) is a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud, with resources that enable you to deliver everything from simple cloud-based apps to sophisticated, cloud-enabled enterprise applications.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII): Personally Identifiable Information, or PII, is any data that could potentially be used to identify a particular person. Examples include a full name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, bank account number, passport number, and email address.

PC: Usually refers to an IBM PC or compatible, or when used generically, to a “personal computer”. In a different context, PC also is an abbreviation for “politically correct.”

Patch: Piece of software designed to update a computer program or its supporting data, to fix or improve it. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance.

On-site: At-place-of-work-or-business support, typically provided by a technically qualified individual.

NNTP: Network News Transport Protocol; the protocol used for posting, distributing, and retrieving network news messages.

Network Operations Center (NOC): A network operations center, also known as a “network management center”, is one or more locations from which network monitoring and control, or network management, is exercised over a computer, telecommunication or satellite network.

Network Interface / Network Adapter: Your computer’s wired Ethernet connection and Wi-Fi connection are basically both network interfaces. If your laptop was connected to both a wired connection and a Wi-Fi network, each network interface would have its own IP address. Each is a different connection.

Network hub: A common connection point for devices on a network.

Network adapter: A device that connects your computer to a network; also called an adapter card or network interface card.

Network: A group of interconnected computers capable of exchanging information. A network can be as few as several personal computers on a LAN or as large as the Internet, a worldwide network of computers.

NAT: Network Address Translation; a standard that enables a LAN to use a set of IP addresses for internal traffic and a single IP address for communications with the Internet.

Nameserver: A computer that runs a program for converting Internet domain names into the corresponding IP addresses and vice versa.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): An authentication method in which a computer user is granted access only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism: knowledge, possession, and inherence. Two-factor authentication is a type, or subset, of multi-factor authentication.

MSP: Managed Service Provider; A business model for providing information-technology services.

Monitor: The part of a computer that contains the screen where messages to and from the central processing unit (CPU) are displayed. Monitors come in a variety of sizes and resolutions. The higher the number of pixels a screen is capable of displaying, the better the resolution. Sometimes may be referred to as a CRT.

MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions; a protocol that enables you to include various types of files (text, audio, video, images, etc.) as an attachment to an e-mail message.

Microsoft Windows: A group of operating systems for PC or compatible computers; Windows provides a graphical user interface so you can point and click to indicate what you want to do.

Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams, also referred to as simply Teams, is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines persistent workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration.

Microsoft Exchange: Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products. Exchange’s major features consist of electronic mail, calendaring, contacts and tasks; support for mobile and web-based access to information; and support for data storage

Microsoft Azure: Microsoft Azure, commonly referred to as Azure, is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers.

Megabyte (Meg or MB): 1,024 x 1,024 (2 to the 20th power) bytes; it’s usually sufficient to think of a megabytes as one million bytes.

MDR: Managed detection and response (MDR) is an outsourced service that provides organizations with threat hunting services and responds to threats once they are discovered. It also involves a human element: Security providers provide their MDR customers access to their pool of security researchers and engineers, who are responsible for monitoring networks, analyzing incidents, and responding to security cases.

MDM: Mobile Device Management; Any routine or tool intended to distribute applications, data, and configuration settings to mobile communications devices. The intent of MDM is to optimize the functionality and security of a mobile communications network. MDM must be part of a coherent BYOD strategy.

Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP): A managed security service provider (MSSP) provides outsourced monitoring and management of security devices and systems. Common services include managed firewall, intrusion detection, virtual private network, vulnerability scanning and anti-viral services. MSSPs use high-availability security operation centers (either from their own facilities or from other data center providers) to provide 24/7 services designed to reduce the number of operational security personnel an enterprise needs to hire, train and retain to maintain an acceptable security posture.

Managed Antivirus: Managed Antivirus is a centrally managed software option that protects all of the computers at a business from virus threats. The “managed” part means that an IT provider installs the software on a company’s computers and other devices and schedules regular scans to check for issues, as well as ensuring the programs are updated and monitors the health of the network.

Male connector: A cable connector that has pins and plugs into a port or interface to connect one device to another.

Mail server: A networked computer dedicated to supporting electronic mail. You use a client program like Microsoft Outlook for retrieving new mail from the server and for composing and sending messages.

Machine Learning: Machine learning is the study of computer algorithms that improve automatically through experience. It is seen as a subset of artificial intelligence.

MAC Address: Each network interface has a media access control address, or MAC address — also known as a physical address. This is a unique identifier designed to identify different computers on a network. MAC addresses are usually assigned when a manufacturer creates a network device.

MAC: Media Access Control; The hardware address of a device connected to a shared network.

Localhost: The hostname “localhost” always corresponds to the device you’re using. This uses the loopback network interface — a network interface implemented in software — to connect directly to your own PC.

LAN: A local area network is a small network that’s confined to a local area. For example, your home network or an office network is a LAN. Connects a group of computers for the purpose of sharing resources such as programs, documents, or printers. Shared files often are stored on a central file server.

ITIL®: The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) sets forth the best practices and standards for providing IT services.

ISP: Your Internet service provider is the company that provides you with your Internet connection. For example, your ISP may be Comcast, Time Warner, or whatever other company you’re paying each month.

IP Address: An Internet Protocol address, or IP address, is a numerical address that corresponds to your computer on a network. When a computer wants to connect to another computer, it connects to that computer’s IP address.

Internet of Things (IoT): The Internet of Things, or IoT, refers to the billions of physical devices around the world that are now connected to the internet, all collecting and sharing data.

Internet of Everything (IoE): Coined by Cisco, the term “Internet of Everything” is defined as the networked connection of people, process, data, and things. The benefit of IoE is derived from the compound impact of connecting people, process, data, and things, and the value this increased connectedness creates as “everything” comes online.

IoE creates opportunities for organizations, individuals, communities, and countries to realize dramatically greater value from networked connections among people, process, data, and things.

Information Security Policy: An information security policy is a set of rules that guide individuals who work with IT assets. Your company can create an information security policy to ensure your employees and other users follow security protocols and procedures.

IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service; In the most basic cloud-service model, providers of IaaS offer computers – physical or (more often) virtual machines – and other resources.

Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI): Hyperconverged infrastructure is a software-defined IT infrastructure that virtualizes all of the elements of conventional “hardware-defined” systems. HCI includes, at a minimum, virtualized computing, software-defined storage and virtualized networking.

HTTP: The hypertext transfer protocol is the standard protocol modern web browsers and the web itself uses. FTP and BitTorrent are examples of alternative protocols.

HTML: HyperText Markup Language; a language used for creating web pages. Various instructions and sets of tags are used to define how the document will look.

Hostnames: A hostname is a human-readable label that points to a device connected to a network. For example, on your home network, your Windows computer’s hostname may be WINDOWSPC. Your other devices can connect to WINDOWSPC and will be pointed at that computer’s local IP address.

Help desk: A help desk is an information and assistance resource that troubleshoots problems with computers or similar products.

Gigabyte (Gig or GB): 1024 x 1024 x 1024 (2 to the 30th power) bytes; it’s usually sufficient to think of a gigabyte as approximately one billion bytes or 1000 megabytes.

Gateway: A gateway is a device that routes traffic between networks. For example, at home, your router is your gateway. It provides a “gateway” between your LAN and WAN.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol; a method of exchanging files between computers via the Internet. A program like WS FTP for IBM PC or compatibles or Fetch for Macintosh is required. Files can contain documents or programs and can be ASCII text or binary data.

Flash drive: A small device that plugs into computer’s USB port and functions as a portable hard drive.