Cyber Security Acronyms (D)

DACL.   Discretionary Access Control List.   A type of security access control that enables the system/object owner to grant or restrict access to an object via an access policy, over which the object owner has full authority to configure.

 

DAST.   Dynamic Application Security Testing.   A testing process that uses manual techniques and automated tools to evaluate the security weaknesses and vulnerabilities of an application or IT architecture.

 

DBA.   Database Administrator.   A an IT professional whose role is to ensure that a company’s databases are running efficiently using specialised skills, tools, and software for storing, organising, and managing data.

 

DBMS.   Database Management System.   A standalone computer program or a suite of software applications for building and managing databases, which are large sets of structured data.

 

DC.   Data Center.   A building or dedicated space and the IT equipment, software systems, facilities, and personnel that are hosted therein for the purpose of centralising, storing, and managing organisational data and applications.

 

DC.   Domain Controller.   A computer server that handles authentication requests, stores user account information, and implements security protocols within a network domain.

 

DCOM.   Distributed Component Object Model.   A proprietary technology developed by Microsoft Corp for handling communication between software elements in a computer network.

 

DCS.   Data Communication System.   A system that facilitates the exchange of data between devices through some form of transmission medium (such as cables and airwaves), guided by a set of rules or protocols.

 

DCS.   Distributed Control System.   An control system that decentralises control using localised autonomous control points that are distributed throughout the system.

 

DDE.   Dynamic Data Exchange.   A message-based system for sharing data between applications that run on the early versions of the Windows OS. Now supersesded by Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), DDE has been exploited by threat actors to deliver malware to targeted systems.

 

DDoS.   Distributed Denial of Service.   A cyber attack that aims to restrict the availability of a networked resource or to overload the systems behind it by flooding the resource with illegitimate/malicious requests from many sources.

 

DES.   Data Encryption Standard.   A symmetric-key algorithm for digital data encryption developed in 1972 that helped advance the field of cryptography.

 

DevOps.   Development and Operations.   A set of business practices that aims to accelerate systems development lifescycle and sustain continuous delivery of high-quality software by combining applicable tenets of IT operations and software development.

 

DevSecOps.   Development, Security and Operations.   A practice in or approach to software development where application security is a paramount concern and a persistent standard from start to finish — not just an afterthought as was and still is observed in typical software development.

 

DFIR.   Digital Forensics and Incident Response.   A field in cybersecurity focusing on the investigation, identification, containment, and remediation of different types of cyber attacks.

 

DH.   Diffie-Hellman (key exchange).   A digital encryption method for securely exchanging cryptographic keys over a public channel.

 

DISA.   Defense Information Systems Agency.   A federal agency under the US Department of Defense that provides IT and communications support.

 

DKIM.   DomainKeys Identified Mail.   An email authentication protocol that uses verifiable domain-based organisational signatures to detect forged sender addresses often used in phishing and email scams.

 

DLP.   Data Loss Prevention.   The practice, process, solution, or strategy component adopted by organisations to 1) prevent unauthorised access to and theft of sensitive information; 2) mitigrate threats to critical data; and, 3) comply with regulatory standards.

 

DRM.   Digital Rights Management.   The field or practice of using technology and other tools to regulate how copyrighted or proprietary materials can be accessed, modified, replicated, and shared.

 

DRP.   Disaster Recovery Plan.   A documented, systematic, and duly approved response strategy an organisation adopts to ensure it can quickly resume operations after a major disruption, serious emergency, or other unplanned incidents.

 

DSA.   Digital Signature Algorithm.   An algorithm designated as a standard method (under the U.S. Federal Information Processing Standards or FIPS) for generating shared digital signatures between a sender and a receiver.