Cyber Security Acronyms (O)

OBOE.   Off-by-one Error.   A programming bug classified as a logic error wherein a system or procedure calculates or uses an incorrect (by +/- 1) minimum or maximum value. It can occur when the programmer starts a sequence with 1 instead of zero, or when an incorrect inequality condition is used (e.g., “more than or equal to” instead of just “more than”). OBOE can cause buffer overflows, infinite loops, and system instability/crashes/exit. It may also lead to unnecessary resource consumption and Denial of Service attacks.

 

OCR.   Optical Character Recognition.   A technology or process by which a system of hardware and software detects and recognises printed or handwritten text characters in digitalised images. Also known as Text Recognition.

 

OEM.   Original Equipment Manufacturer.   A company that produces hardware components that are typically used in consumer-oriented products of another company. More broadly, OEMS can also refer to the companies that outsource hardware components and incorporates such components into a new product under its own brand.

 

OOB.   Out-of-band.   An IT term that describes an activity that is undertaken outside the normal channel, such as a specific telecommunications frequency band. OOB data exchange is used in multichannel messaging, signaling, and multifactor authentication.

 

OOP.   Object-oriented Programming.   A programming model that approaches software design from the centrality of objects rather than functions, procedures, or logic.

 

OPSEC.   Operational Security.   The field, practice, and process of managing business operations from the perspective of an adversary for the purpose of protecting sensitive information and preventing unintentional disclosures of as well as unauthorised access to such information.

 

OSGI.   Open Services Gateway Initiative.   A development and implementation framework for modular software programs and libraries based on the Java programming language.

 

OSI.   Open Systems Interconnection.   A reference model and implementation framework that shows the interrelationships of all the hardware, software, and other components of an IT network, and how they communicate with each other. OSI models help guide device manufacturers and software developers into generating output that fit the model, especially in terms of interoperability and compliance to (ISO) standards.

 

OSINT.   Open Source Intelligence.   The collection of and the insight gained from publicly available information as gathered from traditional broadcast channels, websites, printed material, social media, and other data sources.

 

OSPF.   Open Shortest Path First.   A routing protocol for Internet traffic that is used to find the best paths for data packets being transmitted across a set of connected networks.

 

OSSTMM.   Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual.   A comprehensive, peer-reviewed, and regularly updated methododology for penetration testing and IT security audit maintained by the Institute for Security and Open Methodologies (ISECOM) to help establish best practices and assist organisations in meeting industry standards and regulatory requirements.

 

OT.   Operational Technology.   The type of technology encompassing the hardware, software, practices, personnel, services, and systems used in running, monitoring, and controlling physical processes (such as electrical generation and car manufacturing as well as infrastructures such as nuclear plants and airports).

 

OTA.   Over-the-Air.   A wireless method of transmitting or distributing digital data including software updates, configuration settings, and encryption keys to client hardware such as mobile phones, tablets, electric cars, two-way radios and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

 

OTP.   One-time Password.   A single-use, dynamic, and automatically generated authorisation code that serves as a password or authentication/access key for a single transaction or login session on a digital device or service. May also mean One-time Pin.

 

OTX.   Open Threat Exchange.   A crowd-sourced IT security platform for sharing information, solutions, and research on computer viruses, malware, and other forms of cyber threats.

 

OWA.   Outlook Web Access also Outlook Web App.   A web-based emaIl client that enables users to access and use their Microsoft Outlook accounts on their devices even without the standard Outlook application installed. The latest version of OWA is Outlook on the Web. Threat actors have been reported to have exploited Outlook on the Web vulnerabilities to steal user credentials.

 

OWASP.   Open Web Application Security Project.   An international nonprofit foundation and online community that provides open-source articles, documentation, methodologies, tools, training, technologies, and other resources focusing on web application security.