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HomeGlossary

Plain-English definitions

IT & cybersecurity glossary

The terms that show up in IT quotes, cyber insurance applications, client security questionnaires and Microsoft licensing, defined the way our engineers explain them to business owners. Each entry says what the thing is, why it matters to a small or mid-sized business, and how NetSys handles it.

54 terms. Jump by letter: A · B · C · D · E · H · I · M · N · P · R · S · V · W · Z

A

AI Agent

An AI agent is software that uses a language model to plan and carry out multi-step tasks on its own, calling tools to reach a goal set by a person.

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AI Automation

AI automation uses AI models inside business workflows to read, sort, extract and draft, handling the unstructured work that fixed rules and RPA cannot.

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B

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR)

Business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) is the joint planning that keeps a company running through a disruption and restores its systems afterward.

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Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Business email compromise (BEC) is a fraud in which an attacker uses a hijacked or spoofed business email account to trick staff into sending money or data.

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C

Co-Managed IT

Co-managed IT is a model in which a business's internal IT staff and an outside managed service provider share responsibility for systems and support.

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Conditional Access

Conditional Access is an Entra ID feature that checks each sign-in against user, device, location and risk policies, then allows, blocks or asks for MFA.

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Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

CMMC is the Department of Defense program that verifies contractors and their suppliers protect federal contract information and controlled unclassified data.

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D

Dark Web Monitoring

Dark web monitoring is a service that searches criminal forums and breach dumps for a company's domains, credentials and data, then alerts it on a match.

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Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Data loss prevention (DLP) is a set of policies and tools that detect sensitive information and stop it from leaving the business by email, cloud or device.

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DNS Filtering

DNS filtering is a security control that checks each domain a device tries to reach against threat lists and refuses to resolve dangerous or banned sites.

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E

Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI)

ePHI is individually identifiable health information that a HIPAA-covered organization or its vendor creates, stores, sends or receives in electronic form.

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Email Authentication (SPF, DKIM and DMARC)

Email authentication is a set of DNS standards, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, that let receiving mail servers verify a message really came from the domain it claims.

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Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is software that records activity on computers and servers, detects attacker behavior and isolates a device remotely.

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Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Extended detection and response (XDR) correlates signals from endpoints, email, identities and cloud apps into single incidents with a coordinated response.

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H

HIPAA Security Rule

The HIPAA Security Rule is the federal regulation that sets the administrative, physical and technical safeguards required to protect electronic patient data.

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I

Immutable Backup

An immutable backup is a copy of data that cannot be altered, encrypted or deleted by anyone, even an administrator, until its retention period has passed.

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IT Help Desk

An IT help desk is the team and ticketing system employees contact when technology fails, where each problem is logged, prioritized and tracked to a fix.

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M

Managed Detection and Response (MDR)

Managed detection and response (MDR) is an outsourced security service whose analysts monitor endpoints and identities around the clock and act on threats.

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Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP)

A managed security service provider (MSSP) is an outside firm that watches a business's systems for threats and responds to attacks around the clock.

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Managed Service Provider (MSP)

A managed service provider (MSP) is an outside firm that runs, monitors and supports a business's IT systems for a fixed monthly fee instead of per repair.

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Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI assistant built into Word, Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft 365 apps that drafts and summarizes using your business data.

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Microsoft Defender for Business

Microsoft Defender for Business is an endpoint security service for smaller companies, combining antivirus with detection, response and automated fixes.

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Microsoft Entra ID

Microsoft Entra ID is Microsoft's cloud identity service, formerly Azure Active Directory, that manages user accounts and controls sign-in to Microsoft 365.

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Microsoft Intune

Microsoft Intune is a cloud service that enrolls, configures, secures and updates a business's computers and mobile devices from one management console.

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Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a sign-in method that requires a second proof of identity, such as an app prompt or security key, beyond the password.

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N

Network Segmentation

Network segmentation is the practice of dividing a network into separate zones with controlled traffic between them so an intruder cannot spread freely.

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Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW)

A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a network security device that inspects traffic by application and content and blocks known threats before they enter.

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NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is a voluntary set of guidelines from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology for managing cyber risk.

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NIST SP 800-171

NIST SP 800-171 sets the security requirements for Controlled Unclassified Information in contractor systems: 110 in Rev. 2, the version DoD assesses today.

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NIST SP 800-53

NIST SP 800-53 is the federal catalog of security and privacy controls: 20 control families in Rev. 5, with low, moderate and high baselines in SP 800-53B.

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P

Passkeys

Passkeys are phishing-resistant credentials that replace passwords with a cryptographic key pair, approved on the user's device with a fingerprint or PIN.

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Patch Management

Patch management is the routine of finding, testing, deploying and verifying software updates so known security holes close before attackers use them.

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Penetration Testing

Penetration testing is an authorized, simulated attack on a company's systems or staff to find exploitable weaknesses before a real attacker does.

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Phishing

Phishing is a fraud technique in which an attacker poses as a trusted contact, often by email, to trick a person into revealing credentials or sending money.

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Principle of Least Privilege

The principle of least privilege is a security rule that gives every user, device and program only the access its job needs, and only for as long as needed.

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Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Privileged access management (PAM) is the set of controls that restrict, monitor and record use of accounts with administrative rights over systems.

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Privileged Identity Management (PIM)

Privileged identity management (PIM) makes administrative roles time-limited and approval-gated, activated only when needed and expiring on their own.

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Prompt Injection

Prompt injection is an attack that hides instructions in content an AI system reads, such as an email, to make it break its rules or take harmful actions.

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R

Ransomware

Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts a victim's files or systems and demands a payment, usually in cryptocurrency, to restore access to them.

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Ransomware as a Service (RaaS)

Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) is a criminal business model in which developers rent ransomware to affiliates who attack victims and split the profits.

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Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

A recovery point objective (RPO) is the maximum amount of data, measured in time, that a business can afford to lose between its last backup and a failure.

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Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

A recovery time objective (RTO) is the longest a system or business process can stay down after a failure before the disruption causes unacceptable harm.

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Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

Remote monitoring and management (RMM) is software that lets an IT provider monitor, patch and support computers and servers remotely through an agent.

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S

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Security information and event management (SIEM) is a platform that collects a company's logs, correlates them to detect threats and keeps them for audits.

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Security Operations Center (SOC)

A security operations center (SOC) is a team, in-house or outsourced, that monitors an organization's systems around the clock and responds to incidents.

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Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A service level agreement (SLA) is the part of an IT contract that sets measurable targets for response and uptime and says what happens if they are missed.

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Shadow AI

Shadow AI is the use of AI tools by employees without the company's approval or oversight, often putting confidential data into services nobody has vetted.

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Single Sign-On (SSO)

Single sign-on (SSO) is an authentication method that lets a user log in once with one central identity and open many applications without separate passwords.

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SOC 2

SOC 2 is an independent audit report, based on the AICPA Trust Services Criteria, that describes how a service company protects the customer data it handles.

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V

Virtual CIO (vCIO)

A virtual CIO (vCIO) is an outsourced executive who owns a company's IT strategy, budget, roadmap and vendor decisions under contract, not on payroll.

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Virtual CISO (vCISO)

A virtual CISO (vCISO) is an outsourced security executive who sets strategy, owns risk and compliance, and reports to leadership on a fractional basis.

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Vulnerability Assessment

A vulnerability assessment is a systematic scan and review of systems and software that finds and ranks security weaknesses before attackers exploit them.

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W

Windows Autopilot

Windows Autopilot is a Microsoft cloud service that lets a new or reset Windows PC configure itself for a business at first sign-in, with no hands-on setup.

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Z

Zero Trust

Zero trust is a security model in which every user, device and request is verified before access is granted, even when it comes from inside the network.

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Put the terms in context

Discuss what your business needs to put in place.

Bring the questionnaire, renewal requirement or technical question you are working through. An engineer can help you identify the relevant service and scope the next step.

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