Glossary terms from week 2

Terms and definitions from Course 2, Week 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Threat: Any circumstance or event that can negatively impact assets