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Cybersecurity
Terms & Definitions

Understanding security terminology helps you make informed decisions about protecting your organization. This glossary defines essential security terms for managed services and enterprise protection.

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Data backups
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Copies of data stored separately from primary systems to enable recovery after attacks, failures, or accidental deletion. Regular backups minimize downtime and data loss, forming a critical component of disaster recovery planning.

Data breach
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Unauthorized access, disclosure, or theft of sensitive information by external attackers or malicious insiders. Breaches expose customer data, intellectual property, or credentials, resulting in financial losses, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage.

Data integrity
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Assurance that data remains accurate, complete, and unaltered except through authorized changes. Integrity controls detect tampering, corruption, or unauthorized modifications, maintaining trust in information used for business decisions and compliance reporting.

Data privacy
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The proper handling, processing, and storage of personal information according to legal requirements and individual expectations. Privacy protections give users control over how organizations collect, use, share, and retain their data.

Denial of service (DoS) attack
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An attack that floods a system with traffic or requests to exhaust resources and prevent legitimate users from accessing services. DoS attacks disrupt operations without stealing data or breaching systems.

Digital forensics
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The collection, preservation, and analysis of digital evidence from computers, networks, and storage devices following security incidents. Forensics teams reconstruct attack timelines, identify perpetrators, and support legal proceedings.

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack
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A DoS attack launched simultaneously from multiple compromised systems, generating massive traffic volumes that overwhelm targets. DDoS attacks are harder to block because traffic originates from numerous sources across different networks.

Domain Name System (DNS)
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The internet protocol that translates human-readable domain names into numerical IP addresses computers use to communicate. DNS functions like a phonebook, directing traffic to correct servers when users enter website URLs.

DNS Firewall
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A security control that blocks access to malicious or unauthorized domains by filtering DNS queries. DNS firewalls prevent users from reaching phishing sites, malware distribution points, and command-and-control servers.

DNS Poisoning
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An attack that corrupts DNS records to redirect users from legitimate websites to malicious copies controlled by attackers. DNS poisoning enables credential theft, malware distribution, and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Doxxing
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The malicious publication of private personal information such as home addresses, phone numbers, or financial details. Doxxing weaponizes personal data to harass, intimidate, or endanger targeted individuals.

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