Last updated at Thu, 09 Nov 2023 19:36:06 GMT

Cybersecurity is acronym-heavy to say the least. If you’re reading this, you already know. From CVE to FTP, we in IT love our abbreviations, FR FR. Truthfully though, it can be a bit much, and even the nerdiest among us miss a few. So, In Case You Missed It, here are 10 cybersecurity acronyms you should know IRL, err in 2023.

HUMINT

Peppermint on a sticky day? How dare you. HUMINT is short for Human Intelligence. This abbreviation refers to information collected by threat researchers from sources across the clear, deep and dark web. Real people doing real things, you might say. These folks are out there hunting down potential threats and stopping them before they occur. Pretty cool stuff, TBH.

CSPM

Cloud Security Posture Management tools include use cases for compliance assessment, operational monitoring, DevOps integrations, incident response, risk identification, and risk visualization. Good posture: so hot RN.

IAM

Not the guy with the green eggs, this IAM stands for Identity and Access Management. CSO online says IAM is a “set of processes, policies, and tools for defining and managing the roles and access privileges of individual network entities (users and devices) to a variety of cloud and on-premises applications'. Green Eggs and Ham didn’t age well IMO, Sam was kind of a bully. JK JK.

XDR

AKA Extended Detection and Response. Forrester calls XDR the “evolution of endpoint detection and response”. Gartner says it’s integrating “multiple security products into a cohesive security operations system”. Essentially, XDR is about taking a holistic approach to more efficient, effective detection and response. It’s definitely not an Xtreme Dude Ranch. That’s just absurd.

DFIR

Digital Forensics and Incident Response is a discipline within cybersecurity that specifically focuses on the identification, investigation, and remediation of cyberattacks. Digital forensics refers to the examination of system data, user activity, and other digital evidence to determine who is responsible for a cyber attack. Incident response refers to the process of detecting, containing, and recovering from a security event. Very NCIS.

CNAPP

Oh CNAPP, Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms are lookin’ fresh for 2023! A CNAPP is a cloud-based software platform that simplifies monitoring, detecting, and dealing with cloud security threats and vulnerabilities. CNAPP takes an integrated, lifecycle approach to protecting both hosts and workloads for cloud application development environments.

MDR

Managed Detection and Response providers deliver technology and human expertise to perform threat hunting, monitoring, and response. The main benefit of MDR is that it helps organizations limit the impact of threats without the need for additional staffing. In other words, they are free to TCB instead of worrying about security stuff.

MSSP

A Managed Security Service Provider provides outsourced monitoring and management of security devices and systems. MSSPs deliver managed firewall, intrusion detection, virtual private network, vulnerability scanning, and other services. Oh BTW, sometimes MSSPs deliver MDR to their customers.

DAST

Dynamic Application Security Testing is the process of analyzing a web application to find vulnerabilities through simulated attacks. DAST is all about finding vulnerabilities in web applications and correcting them before they can be exploited by threat actors. A dastardly deed conducted with no ill will … if you will.

WAF

A Web Application Firewall is a type of firewall that filters, monitors, and blocks HTTP traffic to and from a web service. It is designed to prevent attacks exploiting a web application's known vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, file inclusion, and improper system configuration. Proper WAF definition there, zero Cardi B jokes. Those are NSFW.