Glossary of Cyber Security Terms

Race Condition

When two or more actions occur simultaneously, there's a chance for a "race condition." In cybersecurity, this exploit takes advantage of the narrow gap between a security measure's activation and the service's use.

Radiation Monitoring

In the world of cybersecurity, radiation monitoring is akin to electronic eavesdropping. It listens to unshielded radiation signals, intercepting images, data, or audio from unsuspecting sources.

Ransomware

Ransomware is the digital equivalent of kidnapping. This insidious malware encrypts a victim's files, holding them hostage until a ransom is paid for their release.

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the cyber attacker's preliminary phase, their scouting mission. It's here they discover new systems, map networks, and sniff out exploitable weaknesses.

Reflexive ACLs (Cisco)

A Reflexive Access Control List (ACL) on a Cisco router is a step towards stateful firewall operation. It decides on filtering based on whether connections are part of established traffic.

Registry

In Windows environments, the Registry serves as the computer's brain. It's a centralized hub storing all settings and information needed to operate the Windows machine.

Regression Analysis

Regression analysis is a thorough software testing approach, employing scripted tests to check for every possible input. It's often used in conjunction with fuzzing before a new software version is released.

Request for Comment (RFC)

An RFC is like an open suggestion box for the Internet. These notes, started back when the Internet was ARPANET in 1969, can evolve into Internet standards if they gain enough traction.

Resource Exhaustion

Resource exhaustion attacks are like digital sieges. They consume finite resources on a system, rendering them unavailable for others.

Response

In the context of digital communication, a response refers to the information sent as a reaction to a certain stimulus.

Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP)

The Reverse Address Resolution Protocol is a digital helper for a physical machine in a local network, allowing it to request its IP address from a gateway server's Address Resolution Protocol table or cache.

Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering is a technological sleuthing method, disassembling and analyzing a system's design to extract sensitive data.

Reverse Lookup

Reverse lookup in network parlance is detective work, finding out the hostname that corresponds to a specific IP address.

Reverse Proxy

Reverse proxies are like digital go-betweens. They take public HTTP requests, passing them to back-end web servers for content retrieval, before delivering the content to the end-user.

Risk

Risk in cybersecurity is a combination of threat level and vulnerability. It's the likelihood measure of a successful attack.

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is the methodical process of identifying risks and determining their potential impact.

Risk Averse

Being risk averse in the digital realm means preferring caution over opportunity. For instance, choosing a phone call over email to avoid the latter's associated risks.

Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA)

RSA is a key player in asymmetric cryptography. This algorithm was invented in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman.

Role Based Access Control

Role Based Access Control (RBAC) is a digital bouncer. It assigns users to roles based on their functions, and determines their authorization accordingly.

Root

Root is the administrator's account name in Unix systems, the digital equivalent of a master key.

Rootkit

A rootkit is a hacker's camouflage kit. It's a set of tools that conceals a system intrusion and grants the attacker high-level access to a computer or network.

Router

Routers are the switchboards of the internet. They interconnect logical networks, forwarding information to other networks based on IP addresses.

Routing Information Protocol (RIP)

Routing Information Protocol is a protocol acting as an interior gateway for routing. It uses the number of hops as the only metric of a path's cost.

Routing Loop

A routing loop is a digital version of a roundabout, where two or more improperly configured routers continually exchange the same packet.

RPC Scans

RPC scans are akin to cyber pat-downs, identifying which Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services are running on a machine.

Rule Set Based Access Control (RSBAC)

RSBAC decides the actions of entities operating on objects based on a predefined set of rules, thereby reinforcing a system's security.