Understanding Today’s Cybersecurity Terms

Cyber security is an essential tool for businesses, and not just large companies and enterprises. Even if you're the owner of a small or medium-sized business, you should have some understanding of basic cyber security terms and what they mean to your company. The better you understand the risks your company is facing in terms of cyber security, the more you can do to protect it.

When it comes to cyber terms numbers are an important thing to know. For example, there's SOC 2 compliance, which details how companies should manage data they collect from customers. ISO 27001 is another security standard that provides guidelines for managing sensitive information and protecting customers. You don't have to know every detail about SOC 2 compliance or ISO 27001 certification off the top of your head, but these terms signify a commitment to protecting private data in accordance with the latest standards.

There's also some hacker lingo you might want to keep up with. Most people have a general idea of what a virus is, but there's also malware, spyware, ransomware, phishing, spoofing, and tons of other terms. If you want to get a better understanding of what your company is up against when it comes to cyber security, you can find several hacker words lists with definitions online. Understanding these cyber security terms can help protect your company as well as your customers.

Cybersecurity Keywords List

In addition to hacker terminology and information security compliance and certifications, there are also some basic cyber security terms you should understand. Here's a cyber security keywords list to help you get started:

• Threats: A circumstance that has the potential to cause financial loss for your organization, whether that's ransomware or a customer data breach that results from a lack of privacy measures.
• Vulnerabilities: Vulnerabilities are the areas in which your company is susceptible in terms of cyber security. For example, some companies store a lot of customer data or maybe you have several users who have admin or superuser account privileges. These vulnerabilities increase the risk of your company falling victim to a cyber attack.
• Risks: While risks may sound similar to other items on our cyber words list, risks are the potential damage that could be caused if a threat becomes a reality. For example, what's going to happen if you have a data breach, or if your company is victim to a ransomware attack?
• NIST: The National Institute of Security Technology, a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce.

If you want to know more about some of the important cyber security terms, you can check out the NIST glossary.

Cyber Security Terms and Terminologies Pdf

Understanding cyber security can be difficult without good examples, so a glossary of security terms, definitions and acronyms can be a helpful tool for business owners. Now that you know about the important terms such as "threats," "vulnerabilities" and "risks," you have a basic understanding of what cyber security is all about. 

You start by identifying risks, threats and vulnerabilities, then you take steps to increase cyber security, so your company is prepared for a potential cyber attack before it happens.

While a cyber dictionary won't give you all the information you need to know, it can help you answer basic questions about your company and what your needs are in terms of cyber security. Having a little bit of knowledge about cyber security as a business owner can save you a lot of time and money down the road.

Cyber Security News

Following the latest cyber security news is another good way to stay abreast of what's going on in the world of cyber security. The SolarWinds hack is one of the most recent impactful cybersecurity news stories. Software used by 33,000 customers was hacked and malicious code was added to the software, resulting in an attack on Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, and even the United States government. In May of 2021, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack shook the cyber security world, where hackers simply used a VPN account that the company no longer used to gain access to the system. The more you know about what's going on in terms of cyber security, the easier it is to prepare yourself and your company.

So, is cyber security hard? As a business owner, the process is fairly simple for you. You start by figuring out where your business is at risk, then you mitigate that risk by shoring up any vulnerabilities your company may have. The final step is transferring any residual risk to cyber insurance, which is what Trava can help with.

A To Z of Cyber Security

Beyond the basic cyber security vocabulary words, you should also know about specific types of attacks. Here's a quick glossary of security terms to help you understand what people are talking about when they're talking about cyber security:

• VPN: A virtual private network (VPN) that's used to mask the true location and identity of the person using the VPN. There are consumer VPNs for non-malicious purposes, but VPNS are common in cyber attacks.
• Malware: Malware is a blanket term for software that's designed to damage or destroy a computer or its systems. Examples of malware include viruses, worms, and harmful software that PC security programs typically scan for.
• Ransomware: Ransomware attacks are attacks where information or access to a system is held for ransom by the attacker. Companies are then asked to pay a certain amount of money to make computers function again or regain access to important data.
• Data breach: A data breach is an attack where data is the primary target. Data breaches often occur with the intent of stealing identities or credit card information.
• DDoS: A direct denial of service (DDoS) attack is an attack that's designed to disrupt normal traffic to a website, software or service.

Cybersecurity Buzzwords 2021

Learning cybersecurity phrases is a good start, but the list of cyber related words changes every year. If you want to keep up with cyber security, you need to look at a list of cyber security buzzwords for 2021. Viruses and worms used to be the primary threats, but there's a lot more talk about protecting data and avoiding ransomware attacks in the world of cyber security today.

The list of cyber security buzzwords for 2020 is different too, and that list will continue to change year after year. The more you can stay up to date with the latest cyber security terms—even if you're not an expert in the field—the more you can do to protect your company and make sure you have safeguards like cyber insurance in place.