Security terms starting with M

41 terms

Macro Virus A virus that attaches itself to documents and uses the macro programming capabilities of the documents application to execute and propagate.
Major Application An application that requires special attention to security due to the risk and magnitude of harm resulting from the loss, misuse, or unauthorized access…
Major Information System An information system that requires special management attention because of its importance to an agency mission; its high development, operating, or…
Malicious Code Software or firmware intended to perform an unauthorized process that will have adverse impact on the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an…
Malicious code (also malware) Any code that can be used to attack a computer by spreading viruses, crashing networks, gathering intelligence, corrupting data, distributing…
Malware A program that is inserted into a system, usually covertly, with the intent of compromising the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the victims…
Man-in-the-middle Attack (MitM) An attack on the authentication protocol run in which the attacker positions himself in between the claimant and verifier so that he can intercept and…
Management Controls The security controls (i.e., safeguards or countermeasures) for an information system that focus on the management of risk and the management of…
Mandatory Access Control A means of restricting access to objects based on the sensitivity (as represented by a label) of the information contained in the objects and the formal…
Mandatory Topography The format and information required to be displayed on a PIV card. Also known as the Standard Topography.
Manual Key Transport A non-electronic means of transporting cryptographic keys by physically moving a device, document or person containing or possessing the key or a key…
Masquerading When an unauthorized agent claims the identity of another agent it is said to be masquerading.
Match Either an exact or approximate replication. If not an exact replication, the approximate replication shall be so designed as to achieve a suitable…
Match/matching The process of comparing biometric information against a previously stored template(s) and scoring the level of similarity.
Matching See "pattern matching".
Media Any organization in the business of informing the public with news or commentary.
Media Sanitization A general term referring to the actions taken to render data written on media unrecoverable by both ordinary and extraordinary means.
Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement (MOU/A) A document established between two or more parties to define their respective responsibilities in accomplishing a particular goal or mission.
Message Authentication Code (MAC) A cryptographic checksum on data that uses a symmetric key to detect both accidental and intentional modifications of the data.
Message Digest A cryptographic checksum, typically generated for a file that can be used to detect changes to the file; Secure Hash Algorithm-1 (SHA-1) is an example of…
Metrics Tools designed to facilitate decision-making and improve performance and accountability through collection, analysis, and reporting of relevant…
MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension.
Mimic The presentation of a live biometric measure in an attempt to fraudulently impersonate someone other than the submitter.
Min-Entropy A measure of the difficulty that an attacker has to guess the most commonly chosen password used in a system.
Minor Application An application, other than a major application, that requires attention to security due to the risk and magnitude of harm resulting from the loss, misuse…
Minutia(e) Point Friction ridge characteristics that are used to individualize a fingerprint image, see illustration below.
Misnamed Files A technique used to disguise a files content by changing the files name to something innocuous or altering its extension to a different type of file…
Mission Critical Any telecommunications or information system that is defined as a national security system (Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 - FISMA)…
Mobile Code Software programs or parts of programs obtained from remote information systems, transmitted across a network, and executed on a local information system…
Mobile Code Technologies Software technologies that provide the mechanisms for the production and use of mobile code (e.g., Java, JavaScript, ActiveX, VBScript).
Mobile Site A self-contained, transportable shell custom-fitted with the specific IT equipment and telecommunications necessary to provide full recovery capabilities…
Mobile Software Agent Programs that are goal-directed and capable of suspending their execution on one platform and moving to another platform where they resume execution.
Modality A method of treatment. For example, surgery and chemotherapy are treatment modalities.
Mode of Operation An algorithm for the cryptographic transformation of data that features a symmetric key block cipher algorithm.
model See Exhibit.
Moderate Impact System An information system in which at least one security objective (i.e., confidentiality, integrity, or availability) is assigned a FIPS 199 potential impact…
Multi-Hop Problem The security risks resulting from a mobile software agent visiting several platforms.
Multimodal Biometric System A biometric system in which two or more of the modality components (biometric characteristic, sensor type or feature extraction algorithm) occurs in…
Multiple Component Incident A single incident that encompasses two or more incidents.
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) An extensible mechanism for email. A variety of MIME types exist for sending content such as audio using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) protocol.
Mutual Authentication An authentication mechanism employed by two parties for the purpose of proving each other's identity to one another.