Acronyms

Web

HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTML	Hypertext Markup Language
XML	Extensible Markup Language
JSP	Java Server Pages
PHP	PHP Hypertext Preprocessor
DOM	Document Object Module
CGI	Common Gateway Interface
AJAX	Asynchronous Javascript and XML
J2EE	Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition
ISAPI	Internet Server Application Programming Interface
WebDAV	Web-Based Distributed Authoring and Versioning
SOAP	Simple Object Access Protocol An XML-based communication protocol used for sending messages between applications via the Internet.
XXE	XML External Entity This attack occurs when XML input containing a reference to an external entity is processed by a weakly configured XML parser. This attack may lead to the disclosure of confidential data, denial of service, server side request forgery, port scanning from the perspective of the machine where the parser is located, and other system impacts

General

SIEM	Security Information and Event Management
IOC	Indication of Compromises
MBSA	Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
APIPA	Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing
OSSTMM	Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual
ISECOM	Institute for Security and Open Methodologies
OWASP	Open Web Application Security Project
PTES	Pen Testing Execution Standard
CPNI	Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure
HIPAA	Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
FISMA	Federal Information Security Management Act
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulation
PCI DSS	Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
CFAA	The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
GLBA	Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Network

MTU	Maximum Transmission Unit
CSMA/CA	Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance
CDMA	Code Division Multiple Access
WPAD	Web Proxy Auto Discovery
MDNS	Multicast DNS
NBT-NS	NetBIOS Name Service
LLMNR	Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution
NTFS	New Technology File System
SSL	Secure Sockets Layer
PDU	Protocol Data Unit
VLSM	Variable Length Subnet Masks
LAN	Local Area Network
VLAN	Virtual Local Area Networks
ISL	Inter-Switch Link
DMZ	Demilitarized Zone
POE	Power over Ethernet
NDP	Neighbor Discover Protocol
SLAAC	Stateless Address Autoconfiguration (DHCPv6)
DAD	Duplication Address Detection
RS	Router Solicitation
RA	Router Advertisement
NS	Neighbor Solicitation (Sent Multicast)
NAT	Network Address Translation
ACL	Access Control Lists
SDN	Software Defined Networking

Routing

IGP	Interior Gateway Protocol
EGP	Exterior Gateway Protocol
HSRP	Hot Standby Router Protocol This is exclusive to Cisco and allows a default router address to be configured to be used in the event that the primary router fails.
VRRP	Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol A standard that assigns a virtual IP address to a group of routers. At first, messages routed to the virtual IP address are handled by the master router. If the master router fails, backup routers stand in line to take over responsibility for the virtual IP address.
OSPF	Open Shortest Path First A link-state routing protocol used on IP networks.
IGMP	Internet Group Management Protocol
MPLS	Multiprotocol Label Switching
AS	Autonomous System
RIP	Routing Information Protocol
EIGRP	Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol
BGP	Border Gateway Protocol

Switching

VTP	Virtual Trunking Protocol (802.1Q) Cisco's protocol for exchanging VLAN information over trunks. Allows one switch on a network to centrally manage all VLANs.
STP	Spanning Tree Protocol (802.1D) A Layer 2 protocol that is used for routing and prevents network loops by adopting a dynamic routing method.
CDP	Cisco Discovery Protocol
DTP	Dynamic Trunking Protocol
VLAN	Virtual Local Area Network
SLIP	Serial Line Internet Protocol
PPP	Point-to-Point Protocol
ARP	Address Resolution Protocol
RARP	Reverse Address Resolution Protocol
L2TP	Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol
PPTP	Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol
ISDN	Integrated Services Digital Network
DLP	Data Link Protocols
RSTP	Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (802.1w)
NAC	Network Access Control (802.1X)

Ethernet Cable

10BaseT	10 Mbps LAN Ethernet
100BaseT	100 Mbps Fast Ethernet
1000BaseT	1 GB Gigabit Ethernet

DNS Record

SOA	Start of Authority The Source host where the DNS zone was created
MX	Mail Exchange Mail servers for a given domain
NS	Name Server Names of authoritative DNS Servers for a given domain
A	IPv4 Address for a hostname
AAAA	IPv6 Address for a hostname
CNAME	Canonical name Hostname which the CNAME is an alias of
PTR	Pointer Hostname of a given IPv4 or IPv6 address
HINFO	Host Information Operating System or other information for a host
SRV	Service Locator Application service endpoints within a domain, including kerberos, LDAP, SIP, XMPP
TXT	Text String Material including SPF and DKIM fields used to provide security, depending on configuration

Wireless

WEP	Wired Equivalent Privacy An IEEE 802.11 security protocol designed to ensure that only authorized parties can view transmitted wireless information. Has significant vulnerabilities and is not considered secure.
WPA	Wireless Protected Access - PreShared Key The 802.11 security method created as a stopgap between WEP and 802.11i. WPA2 uses AES Encryption
EAP	Extensible Authentication Protocol A protocol that enables systems to use hardware-based identifiers, such as fingerprint scanners or smart card readers, for authentication.
LEAP	Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol
PEAP	Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol
TKIP	Temporal Key Integrity Protocol A security protocol created by the IEEE 802.11i task group to replace WEP.
WAP	Wireless Access Point
MIMO	Multiple Input Multiple Output
EAP-FAST	EAP Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling
EAP-TLS	EAP Transport Layer Security
EAP-TTLS	EAP Tunneled Transport Layer Security
WPS	WIFI Protected Setup / WIFI Simple Config
NFC	Near Field Communication
IR	Infrared
RFID	Radio Frequency Identification

Active Directory

Global Catalog Server	A domain controller that holds a subset of the information in all domain partitions for the entire Active Directory forest.

Windows

LANMAN hash	The original hash used to store Windows passwords, known as LM hash, based off the DES algorithm. (Legacy)
LM Hash	Primary Windows LAN hash before Windows NT. 14 Character limit
WMIC	Windows Management Instrumentation Command-Line
NTLM	New Technology LAN Manager Successor to the LM hash. A more advanced hash used to store Windows passwords, based off the RC4 algorithm.

Encryption

ESP	Encapsulation Security Payload
AH	Authentication Header
PGP	Pretty Good Privacy
AES	Advanced Encryption Standard
TLS	Transport Layer Security
IPSec	Internet Protocol Security
ECC	Elliptic Curve Cryptography
ECDH	Elliptic Curve Diffe-Hellman
DES	Data Encryption Standard
3DES	Triple DES
RC4	Rviest Cipher 4
ECB	Electronic Codebook
GCM	Galois/Counter Mode
DSA	Digital Signature Algorithm
ECDSA	Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm
MD5	Message Digest Algorithm
SHA	Secure Hash Algorithm
HMAC	Hash-Based Message Authentication Code
CCMP	Counter Mode with Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol
PKI	Public Key Infrastructure

Mail

SPF	Sender Policy Framework
DKIM	Domain Keys Identified Mail

Network Topology

WANs	Wide Area Networks
MANs	Metro Area Networks
LAN	Local Area Networks
WLAN	Wireless LAN
CAN	Campus Area Network
NAS	Network Attached Storage
SAN	Storage Area Network
PAN	Personal Area Network