Cybersecurity Glossary

🏛 Acceptable Use Policy AUP

سياسة الاستخدام المقبول

A document that outlines the rules and guidelines for using an organization's information technology resources.

🛡️ ARIA ARIA

آريا

AI Regulatory Intelligence Advisor — CISO Consulting's enterprise Virtual CISO (vCISO) module. ARIA provides AI-powered cybersecurity advisory services including policy generation, risk assessment, compliance gap analysis, board reports, and document generation in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF formats. Specialized in Saudi regulatory frameworks: SAMA CSF, NCA ECC, PDPL, and international standards including ISO 27001, NIST CSF, and PCI DSS.

🔒 Backup Encryption

تشفير النسخ الاحتياطي

The practice of encrypting backup data to protect it from unauthorized access if backup media is lost or stolen.

🔑 Biometric Authentication

المصادقة البيومترية

Authentication method using unique biological characteristics such as fingerprints, facial recognition, or iris patterns.

🏛 Board Cybersecurity Oversight

إشراف المجلس على الأمن السيبراني

The responsibility of the board of directors to oversee the organization's cybersecurity strategy and risk management.

♻ Business Continuity Plan BCP

خطة استمرارية الأعمال

A documented plan that outlines how an organization will continue operating during and after a disruptive event.

⚡ Business Email Compromise BEC

اختراق البريد الإلكتروني للأعمال

A sophisticated scam targeting organizations that regularly perform wire transfers, exploiting compromised executive email accounts.

🏛 Business Email Compromise Prevention BEC Prevention

منع اختراق البريد الإلكتروني للأعمال

A strategic security approach combining technical controls, user awareness training, and governance policies to prevent sophisticated email fraud attacks targeting organizations. This includes implementing verification procedures for financial transactions, executive impersonation detection, and incident response protocols.

⚖ Business Impact Analysis BIA

تحليل تأثير الأعمال

A process that identifies and evaluates the potential effects of disruption to critical business operations.

🏛 Chief Information Security Officer CISO

مسؤول أمن المعلومات الرئيسي

Senior executive responsible for establishing and maintaining the enterprise cybersecurity vision, strategy, and program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately protected.

🚨 Computer Security Incident Response Team CSIRT

فريق الاستجابة لحوادث أمن الحاسب

A team of IT security experts responsible for managing and responding to cybersecurity incidents.

Continuous Authentication CA

المصادقة المستمرة

A Zero Trust security mechanism that continuously validates user identity and device trustworthiness throughout a session, rather than only at initial login. It monitors behavioral patterns, device posture, location, and contextual factors in real-time to detect anomalies and dynamically adjust access privileges or terminate sessions when risk levels change.

♻ Crisis Management

إدارة الأزمات

The overall coordination of an organization's response to a crisis that threatens the organization or its stakeholders.

⚖ Cyber Insurance

التأمين السيبراني

Insurance products designed to help organizations mitigate financial losses from cybersecurity incidents and data breaches.

🏛 Cybersecurity Framework CSF

إطار الأمن السيبراني

A structured set of guidelines and best practices designed to help organizations manage and reduce cybersecurity risk.

🔒 Data Classification

تصنيف البيانات

The process of organizing data by relevant categories so that it can be protected and used more efficiently according to its sensitivity level.

🔒 Data Loss Prevention DLP

منع فقدان البيانات

A set of tools and processes to ensure sensitive data is not lost, misused, or accessed by unauthorized users.

💻 DevSecOps

تطوير الأمن والعمليات

The practice of integrating security testing and protection at every stage of the software development lifecycle.

🚨 Digital Forensics and Incident Response DFIR

الطب الجنائي الرقمي والاستجابة للحوادث

Combination of digital forensics (evidence collection and analysis) and incident response (containment, eradication, recovery) disciplines. DFIR is required by SAMA CSF TM domain and Saudi CERT recommends DFIR-trained personnel for regulated entities.

Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) DFIR

الطب الشرعي الرقمي والاستجابة للحوادث

The combined practice of collecting, preserving, analyzing, and presenting digital evidence from cybersecurity incidents while simultaneously containing and remediating the threat. It ensures evidence integrity for potential legal proceedings while enabling rapid recovery and lessons learned documentation.

♻ Disaster Recovery Plan DRP

خطة التعافي من الكوارث

A documented process for recovering IT infrastructure and systems following a natural or man-made disaster.

⚡ Distributed Denial of Service DDoS

هجوم حجب الخدمة الموزع

An attack that overwhelms a target system with traffic from multiple sources, making it unavailable to legitimate users.

🏛 Domain-based Message Authentication DMARC

مصادقة الرسائل المستندة إلى النطاق

An email authentication protocol that builds on SPF and DKIM to provide domain owners with protection against unauthorized use of their domain in email attacks. DMARC enables senders to specify how receiving mail servers should handle messages that fail authentication checks and provides reporting mechanisms for monitoring.

🏛 Due Diligence

العناية الواجبة

The practice of performing adequate research and assessment before making decisions about security investments, partnerships, or vendor engagements.

🏛 Email Data Loss Prevention Email DLP

منع فقدان البيانات عبر البريد الإلكتروني

A security strategy and technology that monitors, detects, and blocks sensitive information from being transmitted via email in violation of organizational policies or regulatory requirements. Email DLP helps prevent accidental or intentional data breaches by enforcing content inspection and policy-based controls.

🏛 Email Encryption Policy

سياسة تشفير البريد الإلكتروني

A governance framework that defines requirements and procedures for encrypting email communications to protect sensitive information in transit and at rest. This policy establishes standards for encryption methods, key management, and compliance with data protection regulations such as PDPL.

🏛 Email Gateway Security EGS

أمن بوابة البريد الإلكتروني

A security solution that filters and monitors incoming and outgoing email traffic to detect and block malicious content, spam, and phishing attempts. It acts as a protective barrier between an organization's email infrastructure and external threats, enforcing security policies and compliance requirements.

🏛 Email Retention Policy

سياسة الاحتفاظ بالبريد الإلكتروني

A governance document that defines how long email messages must be retained, archived, and eventually deleted based on regulatory requirements, legal obligations, and business needs. This policy ensures compliance with data protection laws while managing storage resources effectively.

🏛 Email Security Awareness Training

التدريب على التوعية بأمن البريد الإلكتروني

A structured program designed to educate employees about email-based threats such as phishing, malware, and social engineering attacks. This training is a critical component of security governance, helping organizations build a human firewall and reduce the risk of successful email attacks.

Encryption

التشفير

The process of converting plaintext data into ciphertext using cryptographic algorithms and keys to protect confidentiality and prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information during storage or transmission.

Encryption Key Management EKM

إدارة مفاتيح التشفير

The administration of cryptographic keys throughout their lifecycle, including generation, distribution, storage, rotation, backup, and destruction, ensuring secure key handling practices to maintain the effectiveness of encryption systems.

End-to-End Encryption E2EE

التشفير الشامل من طرف إلى طرف

A security method where data is encrypted on the sender's device and only decrypted on the recipient's device, ensuring that no intermediary parties, including service providers, can access the plaintext content during transmission.

🛡 Endpoint Detection and Response EDR

كشف نقاط النهاية والاستجابة

A cybersecurity technology that continuously monitors endpoints to detect and respond to cyber threats.

♻ Failover

التحول التلقائي

The automatic switching to a standby system, server, or network upon the failure or abnormal termination of the primary.

⚖ FAIR Model FAIR

نموذج FAIR

Factor Analysis of Information Risk — a quantitative risk analysis methodology for information security and operational risk.

☑ Gap Analysis

تحليل الفجوات

An assessment that compares an organization's current security posture against a desired standard or framework to identify areas needing improvement.

🏛 Governance, Risk and Compliance GRC

الحوكمة والمخاطر والامتثال

Integrated framework for managing an organization's governance policies, enterprise risk management, and regulatory compliance. GRC platforms automate control assessment, risk tracking, and audit management across multiple frameworks simultaneously.

🔐 Hardware Security Module HSM

وحدة أمن الأجهزة

A dedicated hardware device for managing and safeguarding digital keys and performing cryptographic operations.

♻ Hot Site

الموقع الساخن

A fully equipped duplicate computing facility that can be activated immediately in case of a disaster.

🚨 Incident Response Plan IRP

خطة الاستجابة للحوادث

A documented plan that outlines the procedures and responsibilities for detecting, responding to, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents.

Incident Response Plan (IRP) IRP

خطة الاستجابة للحوادث

A documented, structured approach with detailed procedures for detecting, responding to, and recovering from cybersecurity incidents. It defines roles, responsibilities, communication protocols, and step-by-step actions to minimize damage and restore normal operations efficiently.

🏛 Inherent Risk

المخاطر الذاتية

The level of risk existing before any controls are applied. Used in risk assessments to establish baseline risk level before evaluating the effectiveness of existing controls to arrive at residual risk.

⚡ Insider Threat

التهديد الداخلي

A security risk that originates from within the organization, typically from current or former employees or business associates.

☑ Internal Audit IA

التدقيق الداخلي

An independent assessment conducted within the organization to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance.

🌐 Intrusion Detection System IDS

نظام كشف التسلل

A system that monitors network or system activities for malicious activities or policy violations and produces alerts.

🌐 Intrusion Prevention System IPS

نظام منع التسلل

A network security tool that monitors traffic for threats and automatically takes action to prevent them.

⚖ Key Risk Indicator KRI

مؤشر المخاطر الرئيسي

A metric used to provide an early signal of increasing risk exposures in various areas of the organization.

🛡 Managed Detection and Response MDR

الكشف والاستجابة المدارة

An outsourced cybersecurity service that provides threat monitoring, detection, and response capabilities.

🏛 Maturity Model CMM

نموذج النضج

A framework for assessing the current state and improvement path of an organization's cybersecurity capabilities across defined levels.

♻ Maximum Tolerable Downtime MTD

أقصى وقت تعطل مقبول

The maximum period of time that a business process can be disrupted without causing unacceptable consequences.

🚨 Mean Time to Detect MTTD

متوسط وقت الكشف

The average time it takes to discover a security incident from its initial occurrence.

Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) MTTD

متوسط الوقت للكشف

A key performance indicator that measures the average time it takes for a SOC team to discover a security incident or breach from the moment it occurs. MTTD is critical for assessing the effectiveness of security monitoring capabilities and detection controls, with lower values indicating more mature security operations.

🚨 Mean Time to Respond MTTR

متوسط وقت الاستجابة

The average time it takes to contain and remediate a security incident after detection.

Micro-Segmentation MS

التجزئة الدقيقة

A Zero Trust security technique that divides networks into small, isolated segments to contain breaches and limit lateral movement. Each segment has its own access controls and security policies, allowing organizations to define granular security perimeters around critical assets and enforce strict traffic inspection between segments.

🔑 Multi-Factor Authentication MFA

المصادقة متعددة العوامل

An authentication method requiring two or more verification factors: something you know, something you have, or something you are.

🏛 NCA Essential Cybersecurity Controls NCA ECC

الضوابط الأساسية للأمن السيبراني

Mandatory cybersecurity controls issued by the National Cybersecurity Authority of Saudi Arabia, applicable to government entities and critical national infrastructure operators. The 2024 version contains 114 controls across 7 domains.

🌐 Network Access Control NAC

التحكم بالوصول للشبكة

A security approach that attempts to unify endpoint security and network access enforcement.

🌐 Network Segmentation

تجزئة الشبكة

The practice of splitting a network into sub-networks to improve security and performance.

🛡 Patch Management

إدارة التحديثات الأمنية

The process of distributing and applying updates to software to fix vulnerabilities and improve security.

💻 Penetration Testing Pentest

اختبار الاختراق

An authorized simulated cyberattack on a computer system to evaluate its security and identify vulnerabilities.

⚡ Phishing

التصيد الاحتيالي

A social engineering attack that uses deceptive emails, websites, or messages to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information.

Privacy Impact Assessment PIA

تقييم أثر الخصوصية

A systematic process to identify and evaluate potential privacy risks associated with data processing activities, particularly when implementing new technologies, systems, or processes that handle personal data. Under PDPL and SAMA CSF requirements, organizations must conduct PIAs before processing high-risk personal data to ensure compliance and implement appropriate safeguards.

🔑 Privileged Access Management PAM

إدارة الوصول المميز

A set of cybersecurity strategies and technologies for exerting control over elevated access and permissions for users, accounts, and systems.

Privileged Access Management (PAM) PAM

إدارة الوصول المميز

A subset of IAM that focuses on managing and monitoring accounts with elevated privileges, such as system administrators and database administrators. PAM solutions control, monitor, and secure privileged credentials to prevent unauthorized access to critical systems and sensitive data.

♻ Recovery Point Objective RPO

هدف نقطة الاستعادة

The maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time, determining the frequency of data backups.

♻ Recovery Time Objective RTO

هدف وقت الاستعادة

The maximum acceptable time that a system, application, or function can be offline after a disaster before business impact becomes unacceptable.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) RTO

الهدف الزمني للتعافي

The maximum acceptable length of time that a business process, application, or system can be down after a disaster or disruption before the organization experiences unacceptable consequences, used to prioritize recovery efforts and allocate resources.

🛡 Red Team

الفريق الأحمر

A group of security professionals authorized to simulate real-world attacks to test an organization's defenses.

☑ Remediation

المعالجة

The process of addressing and resolving identified security findings, vulnerabilities, or compliance gaps.

⚖ Residual Risk

المخاطر المتبقية

The risk that remains after security controls have been applied.

⚖ Risk Appetite

قبول المخاطر

The amount and type of risk that an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives.

⚖ Risk Assessment RA

تقييم المخاطر

The process of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating risks to determine their likelihood and potential impact on the organization.

⚖ Risk Quantification

التقدير الكمي للمخاطر

The process of assigning monetary values to potential losses from cybersecurity risks using statistical methods.

⚖ Risk Register

سجل المخاطر

A documented repository of identified risks, their analysis, and planned response actions.

🏛 SAMA Cybersecurity Framework SAMA CSF

إطار الأمن السيبراني لساما

Mandatory cybersecurity framework issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority for all regulated financial institutions. Version 2.0 contains 251 sub-controls across 12 domains covering governance, risk, IAM, operations, and business continuity.

🇸🇦 SAMA Cybersecurity Framework SAMA CSF

إطار ساما للأمن السيبراني

The cybersecurity framework issued by SAMA for all financial institutions operating under its supervision in Saudi Arabia.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority SAMA

البنك المركزي السعودي

The central bank of Saudi Arabia responsible for regulating and supervising the financial sector including its cybersecurity requirements.

🌐 Secure DNS

نظام أسماء النطاقات الآمن

DNS configurations and protocols that protect against DNS hijacking, spoofing, and cache poisoning attacks.

🌐 Secure Email Gateway SEG

بوابة البريد الإلكتروني الآمنة

A solution that monitors emails sent and received to prevent unwanted email including spam, phishing, and malware.

💻 Secure Software Development Lifecycle SSDLC

دورة حياة تطوير البرمجيات الآمنة

An approach to software development that integrates security activities at every phase of the development lifecycle.

🛡 Security Awareness Training SAT

التدريب على التوعية الأمنية

An educational program designed to reduce human cybersecurity risks by teaching employees to recognize and respond to threats.

🏛 Security Governance

حوكمة الأمن

The set of responsibilities exercised by the board and executive management to provide strategic direction and oversight of cybersecurity.

🏛 Security Governance Framework SGF

إطار حوكمة الأمن السيبراني

A comprehensive structure of policies, procedures, and controls that establishes accountability and oversight for cybersecurity activities across an organization. It defines roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes to ensure security objectives align with business goals and regulatory requirements.

Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) SIEM

إدارة الحوادث والأحداث الأمنية

A comprehensive security solution that provides real-time analysis of security alerts and events generated by network hardware and applications. It collects, aggregates, correlates, and analyzes log data to detect threats, support compliance reporting, and enable rapid incident response.

🛡 Security Information and Event Management SIEM

إدارة معلومات وأحداث الأمن

A solution that provides real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware through centralized log collection and correlation.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) SIEM

إدارة معلومات وأحداث الأمن السيبراني

A comprehensive solution that provides real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware. SIEM systems collect, aggregate, and analyze log data from across an organization's IT infrastructure to identify security threats, ensure compliance, and support incident investigation and forensics.

🏛 Security Metrics KPI

مقاييس الأمن

Quantifiable measurements used to track and evaluate the effectiveness of an organization's security program.

🚨 Security Operations Center SOC

مركز عمليات الأمن

A centralized unit that deals with security issues on an organizational and technical level, providing 24/7 monitoring and threat detection.

Security Operations Center (SOC) SOC

مركز العمليات الأمنية

A centralized unit that deals with security issues on an organizational and technical level, responsible for continuous monitoring, detection, analysis, and response to cybersecurity incidents using a combination of technology solutions and human expertise.

🏛 Security Policy

السياسة الأمنية

A formal document that defines the rules, guidelines, and practices for managing and protecting an organization's information assets.

🛡 Security Rating

التصنيف الأمني

An objective, quantifiable measure of an organization's cybersecurity posture generated by independent security rating platforms.

🏛 Security Steering Committee

لجنة توجيه الأمن

A cross-functional leadership body responsible for providing strategic direction and oversight of the cybersecurity program.

⚡ Social Engineering SE

الهندسة الاجتماعية

The psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.

⚡ Spear Phishing

التصيد الموجه

A targeted phishing attack directed at specific individuals or organizations using personalized information to increase credibility.

♻ Tabletop Exercise TTX

تمرين الطاولة

A discussion-based exercise where key personnel walk through a simulated scenario to test plans and identify gaps.

⚖ Third-Party Risk Management TPRM

إدارة مخاطر الأطراف الثالثة

The process of analyzing and controlling risks presented by third parties to an organization's data and operations.

Threat Actor TA

الجهة الفاعلة للتهديد

An individual, group, or entity that conducts or has the intent to conduct malicious cyber activities against an organization's information systems or data. Threat actors are categorized by motivation (financial, political, espionage), capability (nation-state, organized crime, hacktivists), and targeting patterns.

🔐 Transport Layer Security TLS

أمن طبقة النقل

A cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network, used to secure web traffic.

🏛 Virtual CISO vCISO

مسؤول أمن المعلومات الافتراضي

Fractional or part-time CISO service providing experienced cybersecurity executive leadership to organizations that cannot justify a full-time hire. Ideal for Saudi SMEs, startups, and organizations bridging a CISO vacancy while achieving SAMA or NCA compliance.

🌐 Zero Trust Architecture ZTA

بنية الثقة الصفرية

Security model based on the principle "never trust, always verify" — every user, device, and application must be continuously authenticated regardless of network location. Key pillars: strong identity, device validation, least-privilege access, microsegmentation, and continuous monitoring.

Zero Trust Network Access ZTNA

الوصول الشبكي بدون ثقة

A security framework that eliminates implicit trust and requires continuous verification of every user and device attempting to access network resources, regardless of their location. ZTNA operates on the principle of 'never trust, always verify' and implements least-privilege access controls with micro-segmentation.

🔐 Cybersecurity Glossary

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