IR hardening acsc-glossary
3-2-1 backups
Three copies, two media, one off-site. Immutable or offline beats a snapshot the ransomware also encrypted.
Short, tagged, searchable.
Terms, frameworks, and concepts used on an Australian defensive desk. No exploit steps.
AllIRacsc-glossaryau-compliancecloudconceptsdetectionframeworkshardeningidentityloggingmalwarenetworkpractitionervulnerability
73 entries
au-compliance frameworks acsc-glossary
ACSC
The Australian Cyber Security Centre, part of ASD. Alerts, advice, assistance. cyber.gov.au and 1300 CYBER1.
au-compliance acsc-glossary
ASD
Australian Signals Directorate. Foreign signals intelligence and, through the ACSC, national cyber security.
concepts acsc-glossary
Advanced persistent threat (APT)
A campaign with a pattern, not a single file. Often patient, often aimed, sometimes state-linked. The persistence is the point.
malware acsc-glossary
Adware
Software that pushes ads. Sometimes you agreed. Sometimes the installer lied. Either way it is extra code on the box.
network hardening acsc-glossary
Air gap
Physically isolated. No cable, no Wi-Fi, no 'just this jump host' to the internet. Removable media is still a path if you let it be.
detection hardening acsc-glossary
Antivirus
Software that looks for known-bad and obvious malice, then tries to stop and clean it. Necessary. Not sufficient.
concepts hardening acsc-glossary
Attack surface
Everything a hostile party can reach: apps, IT, OT, services. Bigger surface, more raffle tickets.
identity acsc-glossary
Authentication
Prove who is knocking. Users, services, and devices all count. A username is a claim, not a proof.
identity acsc-glossary
Authorisation
What the proven identity is allowed to do. Authn is who. Authz is how far.
concepts acsc-glossary
Availability
Authorised users can actually use the system when the work needs it. Uptime theatre without backups is a bet.
IR hardening acsc-glossary
Backup
A copy stored somewhere else so you can restore after loss. If ransomware can reach it with the same credentials, it is not a backup.
malware network acsc-glossary
Botnet
A herd of hijacked devices taking orders. Spam, floods, miners, and stuffing logins all rent the same cattle.
identity acsc-glossary
Brute force
Try all the guesses until one works. Rate limits, MFA, and long secrets make this expensive. Shame is free.
identity IR acsc-glossary
Business email compromise
Email fraud aimed at an organisation's money or data. Invoice redirection is the local dialect.
concepts acsc-glossary
CIA triad
Confidentiality, integrity, availability. Lose one and the system is already failing, even if the dashboard is green.
concepts acsc-glossary
Confidentiality
The right eyes only. Encryption, access control, and not leaving copies in the wrong tray.
identity acsc-glossary
Credential stuffing
Reuse leaked username/password pairs on other sites. Your 'unique' login was the same as the breach last year.
identity hardening acsc-glossary
DMARC, DKIM, and SPF
Mail authentication so others cannot cheaply wear your domain. Publish records. Then set a policy that actually rejects.
IR au-compliance acsc-glossary
Data breach
Data lost, peeked, changed, or leaked without authorisation. In Australia the NDB clock may also be running.
identity hardening acsc-glossary
Default passwords
The password the vendor shipped. Fine for unboxing. Malpractice if it is still there at go-live.
hardening concepts acsc-glossary
Defence in depth
Stacked controls so one failure is not game over. Redundancy, not twelve dashboards of the same alert.
identity acsc-glossary
Dictionary attack
Guessing with a list of likely passwords instead of every possible string. 'Password1' is in the book. Yours should not be.
network IR acsc-glossary
Distributed denial of service (DDoS)
Many compromised machines, one target, a flood. Availability dies; the data may still be fine. That is not comfort during checkout.
malware acsc-glossary
Drive-by download
Hostile code lands because you visited. No attachment required. The click was the URL.
cloud concepts acsc-glossary
Encryption
Turn readable data into ciphertext with an algorithm and a key. The keys are the asset. A key taped to the data is theatre.
network hardening acsc-glossary
Firewall
A filter on the way in and out, driven by rules. Default allow is a very expensive switch.
detection acsc-glossary
Honeypot
A decoy built to attract hostile attention so you can study it. Not a substitute for patching production.
identity acsc-glossary
Identity and access management
Join, move, leave. Who you are, how you prove it, what you may do, and how that ends when the job does.
identity acsc-glossary
Identity theft
Someone uses your personal details to commit fraud. The cleanup outlasts the incident ticket.
frameworks au-compliance acsc-glossary
Information Security Manual (ISM)
ASD's control catalogue for Australian government and anyone who wants the same language. Applicability is the work.
identity IR acsc-glossary
Insider threat
Harm from someone who already had the keys — malice, negligence, or a very bad accident. The badge was valid.
concepts acsc-glossary
Integrity
The record is what authorised people made it. Quiet alteration is still a breach.
detection network acsc-glossary
Intrusion detection system (IDS)
Watches for unwanted activity and tells someone. Host or network. Alert without an owner is a screensaver.
detection network acsc-glossary
Intrusion prevention system (IPS)
IDS with a fist. Identifies unwanted traffic and can block it in the moment. Mis-tune it and you become the outage.
malware identity acsc-glossary
Keylogger
Software (or hardware) that records typing. Credentials and payments are the usual prize. This desk does not document how to build one.
identity hardening acsc-glossary
Least privilege
Only the access required, only for as long as required. Standing admin is standing blast radius.
logging detection IR acsc-glossary
Logging
Time-stamped records of what happened. Collect what can answer a question. If it never gets queried, it is storage spend.
malware acsc-glossary
Malvertising
The ad network is the delivery path. A 'legitimate' page, a hostile creative.
malware concepts acsc-glossary
Malware
Software that is there to harm you: steal, lock, spy, or hitch a ride. Virus, worm, Trojan, ransomware — different delivery, same job.
identity acsc-glossary
Multi-factor authentication
Two or more different factor types: know, have, or are. SMS counts. So does intercepting it. Aim for phishing-resistant.
identity hardening acsc-glossary
Need-to-know
Access only to the data the role actually requires. Broad file shares are a rumour mill with NTFS.
network hardening acsc-glossary
Network segmentation
Cut the network into smaller pieces. Segregation is the rule set between them. Flat is a gift.
identity acsc-glossary
Passphrase
A string of words used as a secret. Longer beats clever. Unique beats reused.
identity acsc-glossary
Password
A character string used as a secret. Reuse is how one breach becomes twelve logins.
identity acsc-glossary hardening
Password manager
Generates unique secrets and stores them in a vault. One strong unlock. Not a spreadsheet called passwords_final.
identity acsc-glossary
Password spraying
A few common passwords, a lot of accounts. Misses lockout, hits whoever used SeasonYear!.
vulnerability hardening acsc-glossary
Patch
A vendor fix for a hole or a defect. Installing it is patching. Explaining why you did not is an exception with an expiry date.
identity acsc-glossary
Pharming
Traffic sent to a fake site by tampering, not by a clicked lure. The URL bar can still lie if DNS or the host file does.
identity concepts acsc-glossary
Phishing
A bulk lure: fake message, urgency, a credential or a hostile file. Training helps. Phishing-resistant MFA and mail authentication help more.
identity hardening acsc-glossary
Privileged user
Someone who can change or sidestep security controls. Developers who can bypass a guardrail count.
IR malware acsc-glossary
Ransomware
Hostile software that locks your data or systems and bills you to get them back. Often also steals a copy first. Restore beats negotiation as a control.
network identity acsc-glossary
Remote access
Coming in from outside the organisation's network, usually through a gateway. Treat it as privileged even when the user is not.
malware acsc-glossary
Rootkit
Tooling that grabs high privilege and then hides. If you only look where it wants you to look, you will miss it.
hardening detection acsc-glossary
Sandbox
A paddock for untrusted code. If it explodes, the paddock takes it. Production is not a paddock.
identity acsc-glossary
Smishing (SMS scam)
Phishing that arrives as a text. Postage, ATO, missed-parcel energy. The link is the problem.
identity concepts acsc-glossary
Social engineering
Manipulate a person, skip the software flaw. Phishing, vishing, BEC, and the helpdesk reset are all this family.
concepts acsc-glossary
Spam
Unsolicited bulk messages, usually ads. Not all spam is phishing. Plenty of phishing rides in the same tray.
identity acsc-glossary
Spear phishing
Phishing with a name on it. Aimed at a person or a small group, usually with enough context to look like Tuesday.
identity network acsc-glossary
Spoofing
A message or identity dressed as a trusted source. Email, SMS, caller ID, and websites all do this cheaply.
malware acsc-glossary
Spyware
Software that watches what you do without a real yes. Sometimes bundled. Sometimes smuggled.
network concepts acsc-glossary
Transport Layer Security (TLS)
The S in HTTPS. Privacy and integrity for data on the wire. Certificates you actually manage.
malware acsc-glossary
Trojan
Hostile software dressed as something you meant to run. The gift is the rest of the program.
identity acsc-glossary
Two-factor authentication (2FA)
MFA with exactly two proofs. Better than a password. Still not the ceiling.
network acsc-glossary
Virtual private network (VPN)
A tunnel plus some discipline. Encryption is common. A full-trust badge on the far side is optional and usually a mistake.
malware acsc-glossary
Virus
Hostile software that hitchhikes: it attaches to other programs or copies itself across systems. Needs a host. Still not a metaphor for every pop-up.
identity acsc-glossary
Vishing
Social engineering on a phone call. They are not Microsoft, the ATO, or your bank's fraud team.
vulnerability concepts acsc-glossary
Vulnerability
A weakness in requirements, design, build, or operations that can be tripped or abused and break the security policy.
vulnerability hardening acsc-glossary
Vulnerability management
Find, rank, fix, check. Known-exploited and exposure beat a 400-page scanner PDF.
malware concepts acsc-glossary
Watering hole
Poison a site your targets already visit. The prey comes to the water. Patching and isolation still apply.
identity acsc-glossary
Whaling
Spear phishing aimed at senior executives. The invoice looks like their job. The bank details do not.
malware acsc-glossary
Worm
Self-copying hostile software that uses the network as a tram. Often no click required once it is inside.
vulnerability acsc-glossary
Zero-day
A usable flaw the vendor has not disclosed or patched yet. Your window is not a blog post. It is exposure.
Definitions informed by ASD's ACSC glossary. cyber.gov.au glossary