Last Updated on March 25, 2024 by Arnav Sharma
Here’s a table of all the acronyms and their meanings:
| Acronym | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 2FA | Two-Factor Authentication |
| ABA | Attribute-Based Access Control |
| AC | Access Control |
| ACSC | Australian Cyber Security Centre |
| ADR | Automated Detection and Response |
| AES | Advanced Encryption Standard |
| AI | Artificial Intelligence |
| API | Application Programming Interface |
| APT | Advanced Persistent Threat |
| APWG | Anti-Phishing Working Group |
| ASV | Approved Scanning Vendor for PCI |
| ATT&CK | Adversarial Tactics, Techniques and Common Knowledge |
| AUP | Acceptable Use Policy |
| AV | Antivirus |
| AVIEN | Antivirus Information Exchange Network |
| BAS | Breach and Attack Simulation |
| BBP | Bug Bounty Program |
| BYOD | Bring Your Own Device |
| C3PAO | CMMC 3rd Party Assessment Organization |
| CA | Certification and Accreditation/Security Assessment |
| CAD | Computer Aided Design |
| CAP | Corrective Action Plan |
| CAPTCHA | Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart |
| CASB | Cloud Access Security Broker |
| CCA | CMMC Certified Assessor |
| CCP | CMMC Certified Professional |
| CD | Domain Controller |
| CDE | Cardholder Data Environment |
| CDR | Content Disarm and Reconstruction/Cloud detection and response |
| CEH | Certified Ethical Hacker |
| CERT | Computer Emergency Response Team/Computer Emergency Readiness Team |
| CFP | Call For Papers |
| CHAP | Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol |
| CIA | Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability |
| CI/CD | Continuous integration and continuous delivery |
| CIEM | Content Disarm and Reconstruction/Cloud infrastructure entitlement management |
| CISA | Certified Information Systems Auditor/Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency |
| CISM | Certified Information Systems Security Manager |
| CIS | Center for Internet Security |
| CISO | Chief Information Security Officer |
| CISSP | Certified Information Systems Security Professional |
| CIRT | Computer Incident Response Team |
| CIS | Center for Internet Security |
| CLS | Contractor Logistics Support |
| CM | Configuration Management |
| CMDB | Configuration Management Database |
| CMMC | Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification |
| CMMC-AB | Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification – Advisory Board |
| CMVP | Cryptographic Module Validation Program |
| CNC | Computer Numerical Control |
| CNAPP | Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform |
| COBIT | Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies |
| COTS | Commercial Off The Shelf |
| COW | Copy On Write |
| CR | Change Request |
| CRQ | Change Request |
| CSF | Cybersecurity Framework |
| CSIRT | Computer Security Incident Response Team |
| CSMA | Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture |
| CSNS | Cloud Service Network Security |
| CSP | Cloud Service Provider/Content Security Policy |
| CSPM | Cloud Security Posture Management |
| CSO | Chief Security Officer |
| CTI | Controlled Technical Information |
| CUI | Controlled Unclassified Information |
| CWPP | Cloud Workload Protection Platform |
| DAM | DoD 800-171 Assessment Methodology |
| DAST | Dynamic Application Security Testing |
| DC | Domain Controller |
| DCMA | Defense Contract Management Agency |
| DCSA | Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency |
| DDoS | Distributed Denial of Service |
| DES | Data Encryption Standard |
| DFARS | DoD Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement |
| DFIR | Digital Forensics and Incident Response |
| DIB | Defense Industrial Base |
| DIBBS | Defense logisitics agency Internet Bid Board System |
| DIBCAC | DIB Cybersecurity Assessment Center |
| DIBNET | DIB Network |
| DISA | Defense Information Systems Agency |
| DLA | Defense Logisitics Agency |
| DMZ | Demilitarized Zone |
| DNS | Domain Name System |
| DoD | Department of Defense |
| DoDI | DoD Instruction |
| DSC | Defense Supply Chain |
| DSR | Data Subject Request |
| ECA | External Certificate Authority |
| EDR | Endpoint Detection & Response |
| EPP | Endpoint Protection Platform |
| EO | Executive Order |
| ERM | Enterprise Risk Management |
| FDE | Full Disk Encryption |
| FIM | File Integrity Monitoring |
| FIPS | Federal Information Processing Standards |
| FISMA | Federal Information Security Modernization Act |
| FWaaS | Firewall as a Service |
| FY | Fiscal Year |
| GDPR | General Data Privacy Regulation |
| GRC | Governance, Risk, & Compliance |
| HIPAA | Health Information Portability and Accountability Act |
| HITECH | Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (Act) |
| HUMINT | Human Intelligence |
| IA | Idenification and Authentication |
| IAW | In Accordance With |
| IBE | Identity-Based Encryption |
| IDS | Intrusion Detection System |
| IDPS | Intrusion Detection and Prevention System |
| IAM | Identity and Access Management |
| IOC | Indicator of compromise/Indicators Of Compromise |
| IoT | Internet of Things |
| IP | Internet Protocol/Intellectual Property |
| IPS | Intrusion Prevention System |
| IR | Incident Response Plan/Incident Response |
| IRP | Incident Response Plan |
| ISAC | Information Sharing and Analysis Center |
| ISMS | Information Security Management System |
| ISSO | Information Systems Security Officer |
| IT | Information Technology |
| ITAM | IT Asset Management |
| ITIL | Information Technology Infrastructure Library |
| ITSM | IT Service Management |
| KB | Knowledge Base |
| LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol |
| LMS | Learning Management System |
| MDR | Managed Detection and Response |
| MITRE | MITRE Corporation (not an acronym but a name) |
| MFA | Multi-Factor Authentication |
| MTTR & MTTD | Mean Time to Detect and Mean Time to Respond |
| MSSP | Managed Security Service Provider |
| NAC | Network Access Control |
| NCSA | National Cyber Security Alliance |
| NGFW | Next Generation Firewall |
| NIST | National Institutes of Standards and Technology |
| NTA | Network Traffic Analysis |
| OA | Organizational Action |
| OODA | Observe Orient Decide Act |
| OPSEC | Operational Security |
| OSINT | Open Source intelligence |
| OT | Operational Technology |
| PAM | Privileged Access Management |
| PAOBOAU | Process Acting On Behalf Of an Authorized User |
| PCI-DSS | Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard |
| PE | Physical and Environmental protection |
| PGP | Pretty Good Privacy |
| PHI | Protected Health Information |
| PICERL | Prepare, Identify, Contain, Eradicate, Recover, Lessons Learned |
| PIEE | Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment |
| PKI | Public Key Infrastructure |
| POA&M | Plan of Action and Milestones |
| PS | Personnel Security |
| PT | Penetration Testing |
| PW | Password |
| RaaS | Ransomware as a Service |
| RBA | Risk-Based Authentication |
| RBAC | Role-Based Access Control |
| RE | REcovery |
| RFI | Request for Information |
| RFP | Request For Proposal |
| RM | Risk Management |
| RMF | Risk Management Framework |
| RP | Registered Practitioner |
| RPO | Registered Practitioner Organization (CMMC)/Recovery Point Objective |
| RSA | Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (encryption algorithm) |
| RTO | Recovery Time Objective |
| SASE | Secure Access Service Edge |
| SA | Situational Awareness |
| SAR | Security Assessment Report |
| SC | System and Communications Protection |
| SCG | Security Classification Guide |
| SCADA | Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition |
| SCIM | System for Cross-domain Identity Management |
| SI | System and Information Integrity |
| SIEM | Security Information and Event Management |
| SSO | Single Sign-On |
| SOC | Security Operations Center |
| SP | Special Publication |
| SSO | Single Sign-On |
| SSP | System Security Plan |
| SANS | SANS Institute |
| SPRS | Supplier Performance Risk System |
| SSRF | Server-Side Request Forgery |
| STIG | Security Technical Implementation Guide |
| TACACS | Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System |
| TCP | Transport Control Protocol |
| TTP | Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures |
| UDP | User Datagram Protocol |
| UN | Username |
| VPN | Virtual Private Network |
| WAF | Web Application Firewall |
| WAAP | Web Application & API Protection |
| WAP | Wireless Access Point |
| WEP | Wired Equivalency Protocol |
| WPA | WiFi Protected Access |
| WPS | WiFi Protected Setup |
| WRT | With Respect To |
| XDR | Extended Detection and Response |
| XSS | Cross-Site Scripting |
| ZTNA | Zero Trust Network Access |
FAQ – Important Cybersecurity Acronyms
Q: What are common cybersecurity acronyms that everyone should know?
A: Some of the common cybersecurity acronyms include CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), IAM (Identity and Access Management), and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). These acronyms are part of the broader cybersecurity terms and acronyms used within the industry.
Q: Why are certain cybersecurity acronyms more important than others?
A: Important cybersecurity acronyms often represent concepts, frameworks, or standards that are central to the cybersecurity industry. For instance, NIST cybersecurity framework guides organizations in managing cyber risk, and CVE provides a list of publicly disclosed security vulnerabilities.
Q: How do security teams use acronyms related to cyber threat intelligence?
A: Security analysts investigate alerts to determine the nature and impact of threats without the need for additional staffing. By relying on acronyms like CVE, they can track and collate information about vulnerabilities across multiple sources more efficiently.
Q: Why is having a glossary or abbreviation list essential for the cybersecurity community?
A: A glossary of cybersecurity terms and acronyms helps organizations and security analysts quickly understand and communicate about cybersecurity threats, measures, and events without confusion. It ensures consistent terminology and understanding across the industry.
Q: How do security teams handle multiple sources of cyber threat data?
A: Security teams collate information about vulnerabilities across multiple sources that might otherwise name the same threat differently. Authorities like MITRE will assign a CVE number to a vulnerability to make it easier to track and collate information across diverse sources.
Q: How does the convergence of network and security functionalities benefit organizations?
A: A converged network security infrastructure simplifies the monitoring and management of security devices and systems. Instead of relying on an array of separate tools, it converges network and security functions, streamlining threat detection and response.
Q: What role does the CVE play in the cybersecurity community?
A: CVE, which stands for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, is a list maintained by MITRE. It helps organizations track and collate information about vulnerabilities across multiple sources. Each vulnerability is assigned a unique CVE number, making it easier to reference and share within the cybersecurity community.
Q: How does threat intelligence from multiple sources help organizations defend against cyberattacks?
A: Threat intelligence from multiple sources provides a more comprehensive view of the cybersecurity landscape. By gathering unique information from various sources, organizations can better understand security threats and implement effective defensive cybersecurity measures.
Q: Why is it essential for security analysts to stay updated with cybersecurity news and acronyms related to their field?
A: Staying updated with cybersecurity news and acronyms allows security analysts to remain abreast of the latest security threats, vulnerabilities, and best practices. Being informed ensures that they can effectively protect enterprises against emerging cyberattacks.
Q: What’s the importance of IAM in cybersecurity, and how does it impact network security?
A: IAM, or Identity and Access Management, is a framework that determines and controls user access within an organization. Proper IAM ensures that only authorized individuals have access to specific resources, bolstering network security and reducing the risk of malicious traffic and attacks.
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