Glossary

A weakness or defect of a system, application or service that allows attackers to bypass security measures.

A copy of data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after data loss.

A baseline of user activity, such as typical login patterns, resource access habits and anomalous actions.

A documented configuration standard that has been formally reviewed and approved by an appropriate authority within the organisation.

Large amounts of structured and unstructured data that exceeds the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, manage and process. Big data requires techniques and technologies with new forms of integration to reveal insights from datasets that are diverse, complex, and of a massive scale.

Measurable physical characteristics used to identify or verify an individual.

A digital currency and payment system underpinned by blockchain technology. Bitcoins can be used for online purchases, or converted into traditional currency. See also cryptocurrency.

A person that engages in unsanctioned hacking activities. See also 'Grey Hat' and 'White Hat '.

In the context of extortion, an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicising either substantially true or false information about a person or group unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information and may be revealed to family members or associates rather than to the general public.

A distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, secured from tampering and revision. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. By design, blockchains are inherently resistant to modification of the data—once recorded, the data in a block cannot be altered retrospectively.