NIST Interagency Report 7581

September 2009 

System and Network Security 

Acronyms and Abbreviations 

Karen Scarfone 

Victoria Thompson 
NIST Interagency Report 7581 

September 2009 

System and Network Security Acronyms 

and Abbreviations 

Karen Scarfone 

Victoria Thompson 

C O M P U T E R S E C U R I T Y

Computer Security Division 

Information Technology Laboratory 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8930 

September 2009 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Gary Locke, Secretary 

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Patrick D. Gallagher, Deputy Director 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Reports on Computer Systems Technology 

The Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) promotes the U.S. economy and public welfare by providing technical leadership for the nation’s 

measurement and standards infrastructure. ITL develops tests, test methods, reference data, proof of 

concept implementations, and technical analysis to advance the development and productive use of 

information technology. ITL’s responsibilities include the development of technical, physical, 

administrative, and management standards and guidelines for the cost-effective security and privacy of 

sensitive unclassified information in Federal computer systems. This Interagency Report discusses ITL’s 

research, guidance, and outreach efforts in computer security and its collaborative activities with industry, 

government, and academic organizations. 

Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this 

document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. 

Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor is it intended to imply that the 

entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report 7581 

32 pages (Sep. 2009) 

ii 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Acknowledgments 

The authors, Karen Scarfone of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Victoria 

Thompson of Booz Allen Hamilton, wish to thank their colleagues who reviewed drafts of this report, 

particularly Liz Lennon and Tim Grance of NIST. Thanks also go to individuals and organizations that 

submitted suggestions, particularly Tim Kramer, Mark Seecof, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the 

U.S. Department of State. The authors also thank their colleagues who created acronym and abbreviation 

lists for their publications that were subsequently used as sources of information for this report. 

Trademark Information 

All names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies. 

Note to Reviewers 

Reviewers are encouraged to submit additional acronyms and abbreviations related to system and network 

security, particularly for emerging technologies, for consideration as additions to this report. All 

suggestions and corrections should be sent to securityacronyms@nist.gov. 

iii 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Table of Contents 

1. Introduction .........................................................................................................................1

2. Acronym and Abbreviation List.........................................................................................2

Numeric................................................................................................................................2

A...........................................................................................................................................2

B...........................................................................................................................................3

C ..........................................................................................................................................4

D ..........................................................................................................................................6

E...........................................................................................................................................7

F...........................................................................................................................................8

G ..........................................................................................................................................9

H ........................................................................................................................................10

I ..........................................................................................................................................11

J .........................................................................................................................................13

K.........................................................................................................................................13

L .........................................................................................................................................13

M ........................................................................................................................................14

N ........................................................................................................................................15

O ........................................................................................................................................17

P.........................................................................................................................................17

Q ........................................................................................................................................19

R ........................................................................................................................................19

S.........................................................................................................................................20

T.........................................................................................................................................22

UU ........................................................................................................................................23

V.........................................................................................................................................24

W........................................................................................................................................24

XYZ ....................................................................................................................................25

Appendix A— References ........................................................................................................26

Appendix B— Former Acronyms ............................................................................................27

 

iv 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

1. Introduction 

This report contains a list of selected acronyms and abbreviations for system and network security terms 

with their generally accepted or preferred definitions. It is intended as a resource for federal agencies and 

other users of system and network security publications. 

The capitalization, spelling, and definitions of acronyms and abbreviations frequently vary among 

publications. It is easy to understand why this happens. While some acronyms and abbreviations (e.g., 

WWW) have one universally recognized and understood definition within the domain of system and 

network security, others (e.g., IA, MAC) have multiple valid definitions depending upon the context in 

which they are used. Some acronyms bear little resemblance to their definitions, such as Modes of 

Operation Validation System for the Triple DES Algorithm (TMOVS). Others use unexpected 

capitalization or spelling (e.g., Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language [ebXML] and 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]). As a result, acronyms, 

abbreviations, and their definitions may be inaccurately or inconsistently defined by authors, perpetuating 

errors and confusing or misleading readers. 

This report is meant to help reduce these errors and confusion by providing the generally accepted or 

preferred definitions of a list of frequently used acronyms and abbreviations. The list does not include all

system and network security terms, nor is it a compendium of every acronym and abbreviation found in 

system and network security documents published by NIST. Readers should refer to each document’s list 

of acronyms and abbreviations (typically found in an appendix) for definitions applicable to that 

particular document. 

The following conventions have been used in the preparation of the list of acronyms and abbreviations in 

this report. 

 Abbreviations and acronyms generally appear in all capital letters, although there are occasional 

exceptions—for example, meter (m) and decibels referenced to one milliwatt (dBm). 

 Technical terms are not capitalized unless they are proper nouns. Names of people, places, and 

groups, and the titles of protocols, standards, and algorithms are considered proper nouns. For 

example, certification and accreditation (C&A) is not capitalized, but Advanced Encryption Standard 

(AES) is capitalized. 

 Collective nouns are not capitalized (e.g., wide area network [WAN]). 

 When two or more definitions of the same acronym or abbreviation are given, the acronym or 

abbreviation is italicized and repeated for each definition. Definitions are listed alphabetically. 

1 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

2. Acronym and Abbreviation List 

This section consists of a list of selected system and network security acronyms and abbreviations, along 

with their generally accepted definitions. When there are multiple definitions for a single term, the 

acronym or abbreviation is italicized and each definition is listed separately. 

Numeric 

1xRTT one times radio transmission technology 

3DES Triple Data Encryption Standard 

3G 3rd Generation 

3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project 

3GPP2 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 

A 

A address resource record type 

AA ABAC attribute authority 

AAA authentication, authorization, and accounting 

AAAK authentication, authorization, and accounting key 

AAD additional authenticated data 

AAR after action report 

AAS adaptive antenna system 

ABAC attribute-based access control 

ACE access control entry 

ACL access control list 

ACM Association for Computing Machinery 

ACO authenticated cipher offset 

AD Active Directory 

AD authenticated data 

ADS alternate data stream 

AES Advanced Encryption Standard 

AES-CBC Advanced Encryption Standard-Cipher Block Chaining 

AES-CTR Advanced Encryption Standard-Counter Mode 

AFH adaptive frequency hopping 

A-GPS assisted global positioning system 

AH Authentication Header 

AIDC automatic identification and data capture 

AIM Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility 

AIT automatic identification technology 

AJAX Asynchronous JavaScript and XML 

AK authorization key 

AKID authorization key identifier 

AKM authentication and key management 

ALG application layer gateway 

ANSI American National Standards Institute 

AP access point 

API application programming interface 

2 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

APWG Anti-Phishing Working Group 

ARIN American Registry for Internet Numbers 

ARP Address Resolution Protocol 

ARPA Advanced Research Projects Agency 

AS authentication server 

AS authentication service 

AS autonomous system 

ASC Anti-Spyware Coalition 

ASC X9 Accredited Standards Committee X9 

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange 

ASLR address space layout randomization 

ASN autonomous system number 

ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation 1 

ASP active server pages 

ATA Advanced Technology Attachment 

ATIM Announcement Traffic Indication Message 

ATM asynchronous transfer mode 

ATM automated teller machine 

AV antivirus 

AVIEN Anti-Virus Information Exchange Network 

AVP attribute-value pair 

B 

B2B business-to-business 

BCP best current practice 

BCP business continuity plan 

BGP Border Gateway Protocol 

BGP-4 Border Gateway Protocol 4 

BIA Bump-in-the-API 

BIA business impact analysis 

BioAPI Biometric Application Programming Interface 

BIOS basic input/output system 

BITS Bump-in-the-Stack 

BPML Business Process Modeling Language 

BPSS Business Process Specification Schema 

BRP business recovery (resumption) plan 

BS base station 

BSC base station controller 

BSI British Standards Institution 

BSIA British Security Industry Association 

BSP best security practice 

BSS basic service set 

BSSID basic service set identifier 

BTNS better-than-nothing-security 

BTS base transceiver station 

BU binding update 

BUA binding update acknowledgement 

3 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

C 

C&A certification and accreditation 

CA certificate authority 

CA certification agent

CA certification authority 

CAC common access card 

CAIDA Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis 

CAPTCHA Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart 

CARO Computer Antivirus Research Organization 

CAVP Cryptographic Algorithm Validation Program 

CBC Cipher Block Chaining 

CBC-MAC Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code 

CBEFF Common Biometric Exchange File Format 

CC Common Criteria 

CCETM Common Configuration Enumeration 

CCEVS Common Criteria Evaluation and Validation Scheme 

CCIPS Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section 

CCK complementary code keying 

CCM Counter Mode with CBC-MAC 

CCMP Counter Mode with CBC-MAC Protocol 

CCRA Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement 

CCSS Common Configuration Scoring System 

ccTLD country code top-level domain 

CD checking disabled 

CD compact disc 

CDFS compact disc file system 

CDMA code division multiple access 

CD-R compact disc-recordable 

CD-ROM compact disc-read only memory 

CD-RW compact disc-rewritable 

CEO chief executive officer 

CERIAS Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security 

CERT computer emergency response team 

CERT®/CC CERT® Coordination Center 

CF CompactFlash® 

CFAA Computer Fraud and Abuse Act 

CFB Cipher Feedback 

CFI computer and financial investigations 

CFR Code of Federal Regulations 

CFTT computer forensics tool testing 

CGA cryptographically generated addresses 

CGI Common Gateway Interface 

CHAP Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol 

CHUID cardholder unique identifier 

CIDR Classless Inter-Domain Routing 

CIFS Common Internet File System 

CIO chief information officer 

CIP critical infrastructure protection 

CIPC Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee 

4 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CIPSEA Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act 

CIRC computer incident response capability 

CIRC computer incident response center 

CIRDB CERIAS Incident Response Database 

CIRT computer incident response team 

CIS Center for Internet Security 

CISO chief information security officer 

CLF common log format 

CLI command line interface 

CLR common language runtime 

cm centimeter 

CMA Certificate Management Authority 

CMAC Cipher-based Method Authentication Code 

CME Common Malware Enumeration 

CMOS complementary metal oxide semiconductor 

CMS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 

CMS Cryptographic Message Syntax 

CMSS Common Misuse Scoring System 

CMVP Cryptographic Module Validation Program 

CN common name 

CN correspondent node 

CNSS Committee on National Security Systems 

CNSSI Committee on National Security Systems Instruction 

CoA care-of address 

codec coder/decoder 

COI conflict of interest 

COM Component Object Model 

COOP continuity of operations 

COPPA Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act 

CORBA® Common Object Request Broker Architecture 

COTS commercial off-the-shelf 

CP certificate policy 

CP contingency plan 

CPETM Common Platform Enumeration 

CPI compression parameter index 

CPNI Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure 

CPS certification practice statement 

CPU central processing unit 

CRAM challenge-response authentication mechanism 

CRC cyclic redundancy check 

CRL certificate revocation list 

CS client/server 

CSIA Cyber Security Industries Alliance 

CSIRC computer security incident response capability 

CSIRT computer security incident response team 

CSO chief security officer 

CSO computer security object 

CSP Credentials Service Provider 

CSR certificate signing request 

CSRC Computer Security Resource Center 

CSRDA Cyber Security Research and Development Act of 2002 

5 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

CSS cascading style sheet 

CSV comma-separated values 

CTO chief technology officer 

CTR counter mode encryption 

CVE Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures 

CVSS Common Vulnerability Scoring System 

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration 

D 

DA destination address 

DAA designated accrediting authority 

DAA designated approving authority 

DAC discretionary access control 

DAD duplicate address detection 

DAML DARPA Agent Markup Language 

D-AMPS Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Service 

DAO Data Access Object 

DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 

dBm decibels referenced to one milliwatt 

DBMS database management system 

DC domain controller 

DCE Distributed Computing Environment 

DCOM Distributed Component Object Model 

DCS distributed control system 

DDMS Department of Defense Metadata Specification 

DDoS distributed denial of service 

DEA Data Encryption Algorithm 

DEP Data Execution Prevention 

DES Data Encryption Standard 

DFS Distributed File System 

DFS dynamic frequency selection 

DH Diffie-Hellman 

DHAAD Dynamic Home Agent Address Discovery 

DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol 

DHCPv6 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for Internet Protocol v6 

DHS U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

DIMS Digital Identity Management Service 

DISA U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency 

DLL dynamic link library 

DMA direct memory access 

DMZ demilitarized zone 

DN distinguished name

DN domain name 

DNP Distributed Network Protocol 

DNS domain name system 

DNSBL Domain Name System Blacklist 

DNSSEC Domain Name System Security Extensions 

DOC U.S. Department of Commerce 

DoD U.S. Department of Defense 

6 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

DOE U.S. Department of Energy 

DOI domain of interpretation 

DOJ U.S. Department of Justice 

DOM Document Object Model 

DoS denial of service 

DPA differential power analysis 

DRA data recovery agent 

DRM digital rights management 

DRP disaster recovery plan 

DS Delegation Signer 

DS distribution system 

DS Field differentiated services field 

DSA Digital Signature Algorithm 

DSL digital subscriber line 

DSML Directory Services Markup Language 

DSN delivery status notification 

DSOD dynamic separation of duty 

DSS Digital Signature Standard 

DSTM Dual Stack Transition Mechanism 

DTC Distributed Transaction Coordinator 

DTD Document Type Definition 

DTR derived test requirement 

DUID DHCP unique identifier 

DVD digital video disc 

DVD-R digital video disc - recordable 

DVD-ROM digital video disc - read only memory 

DVD-RW digital video disc - rewritable 

E 

EAL evaluation assurance level 

EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol 

EAP-FAST Extensible Authentication Protocol-Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling 

EAPOL Extensible Authentication Protocol Over LAN 

EAPOL-KCK Extensible Authentication Protocol Over LAN Key Confirmation Key 

EAPOL-KEK Extensible Authentication Protocol Over LAN Key Encryption Key 

EAP-TLS Extensible Authentication Protocol-Transport Layer Security 

EAP-TTLS Extensible Authentication Protocol-Tunneled Transport Layer Security 

EBGP Exterior Border Gateway Protocol 

ebXML Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language 

EC2N Elliptic Curve over G[2N] 

ECB Electronic Codebook (mode) 

ECC Elliptic Curve Cryptography 

ECDH Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman 

ECDSA Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm 

ECM Enterprise Configuration Manager 

ECP Encryption Control Protocol 

ECPA Electronic Communications Privacy Act 

EDGE Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution 

EDI electronic data interchange 

7 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

EDR enhanced data rate 

EEPROM electronically erasable programmable read-only memory 

EFI Extensible Firmware Interface 

EFS Encrypting File System 

EGP Exterior Gateway Protocol 

EH extension header 

EICAR European Institute for Computer Antivirus Research 

EIGRP Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol 

EIK EAP Integrity Key 

email electronic mail 

EMS energy management system 

EMS Enhanced Messaging Service 

EMSK Extended Master Session Key 

EPAL Enterprise Privacy Authorization Language 

EPC electronic product code 

EPCIS Electronic Product Code Information Services 

EPHI electronic protected health information 

EPS events per second 

ERP enterprise resource planning 

ESMS enterprise security management system 

ESMTP Extended Simple Mail Transfer Protocol 

ESN electronic serial number 

ESP Encapsulating Security Payload 

ESS Extended Service Set 

ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute 

EU European Union 

EUI-64 Extended Unique Identifier 64 bit 

EV-DO Evolution-Data Optimized 

ext2fs Second Extended Filesystem 

ext3fs Third Extended Filesystem 

F 

FAQ frequently asked questions 

FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation 

FASC-N Federal Agency Smart Credential Number 

FASP Federal Agency Security Practices 

FAT file allocation table 

FBCA Federal Bridge Certification Authority 

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation 

FBI CJIS Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice Information Services Division 

FCC Federal Communications Commission 

FCC ID Federal Communications Commission Identification number 

FCL final checklist list 

FCPF Federal PKI Common Policy Framework 

FCRA Fair Credit Reporting Act 

FCS frame check sequence 

FDA Food and Drug Administration 

FDCC Federal Desktop Core Configuration 

FDCE Federated Development and Certification Environment 

8 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

FDE full disk encryption 

FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

FEA Federal Enterprise Architecture 

FEK file encryption key 

FFMIA Federal Financial Management Improvement Act 

FHSS frequency hopping spread spectrum 

FIB forwarding information base 

FICC Federal Identity Credentialing Committee 

FIPS Federal Information Processing Standards 

FIRSTTM Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams 

FISCAM Federal Information System Controls Audit Manual 

FISMA Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 

FISSEA Federal Information Systems Security Educators’ Association 

FLETC Federal Law Enforcement Training Center 

FMR false match rate 

FMS Fluhrer-Mantin-Shamir 

FNMR false non match rate 

FOIA Freedom of Information Act 

FPC Federal Preparedness Circular 

FPKI Federal Public Key Infrastructure 

FPKIA Federal Public Key Infrastructure Architecture 

FPKIPA Federal Public Key Infrastructure Policy Authority 

FQDN fully qualified domain name 

FRR false rejection rate 

FSO field security office 

FTC Federal Trade Commission 

FTCA Federal Trade Commission Act 

FTP File Transfer Protocol 

FUS Fast User Switching 

FY fiscal year 

G 

GAO U.S. Government Accountability Office 

GB gigabyte 

GFAC generalized framework for access control 

GFIRST Government Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams 

GHz gigahertz 

GIG Global Information Grid 

GINA graphical identification and authentication 

GKEK Group Key Encryption Key 

GLB or GLBA Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 

GMK Group Master Key 

GnuPG GNU Privacy Guard 

GOTS government off-the-shelf 

GPL general public license 

GPMC Group Policy Management Console 

GPO Group Policy Object 

GPRS general packet radio service 

GPS global positioning system 

9 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

GR graceful restart 

GRE Generic Routing Encapsulation 

GRS General Records Schedule 

GS1 Global Standards One 

GSA U.S. General Services Administration 

GSM Global System for Mobile Communications 

GTC Generic Token Card 

GTEK group traffic encryption key 

GTK group temporal key 

gTLD generic top-level domain 

GTSM Generalized TTL Security Mechanism 

GUI graphical user interface 

H 

HA high availability

HA home agent 

HAG high assurance guard 

HCI host controller interface 

HERF hazards of electromagnetic radiation to fuel 

HERO hazards of electromagnetic radiation to ordnance 

HERP hazards of electromagnetic radiation to personnel 

HF high frequency 

HFS Hierarchical File System 

HHS U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

HINFO host information 

HIP Host Identity Protocol 

HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

HIPERLAN high-performance radio local area network 

HKLM HKEY_Local_Machine 

HL7 Health Level Seven 

HMAC keyed-hash message authentication code 

HMI human-machine interface 

HPA host protected area 

HPFS High-Performance File System 

HR human resources 

HSARPA Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency 

HSPD Homeland Security Presidential Directive 

HTCIA High Technology Crime Investigation Association 

HTCP Hyper Text Caching Protocol 

HTML Hypertext Markup Language 

HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol 

HTTPS Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol 

Hz hertz 

10 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

I 

I&A identification and authentication 

I/O input/output 

I3P Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection 

IA information assurance 

IAB Internet Architecture Board 

IACIS® International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists 

IAIP Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection 

IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority 

IAO information assurance officer 

IATF Information Assurance Technical Framework 

IBC iterated block cipher 

IBE identity-based encryption 

iBGP Internal Border Gateway Protocol 

IBMJSSE IBM Java Secure Socket Extension 

IBSS independent basic service set 

IC3 Internet Crime Complaint Center 

ICAMP Incident Cost Analysis and Modeling Project 

ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers 

ICCID Integrated Circuit Card Identification 

ICCP Inter-control Center Communications Protocol 

ICF Internet Connection Firewall 

ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol 

ICP Internet Cache Protocol 

ICS industrial control system 

ICS Internet Connection Sharing 

ICSA International Computer Security Association

ICV integrity check value 

ID identification 

IDARTTM Information Design Assurance Red Team 

IDE integrated development environment 

IDE Integrated Drive Electronics 

IDEA International Data Encryption Algorithm 

iDEN Integrated Digital Enhanced Network 

ID-FF Identity Federation Framework 

IDMEF Intrusion Detection Message Exchange Format 

IDMS identity management system 

IDPS intrusion detection and prevention system 

IDS intrusion detection system 

ID-SIS Identity Service Interface Specifications 

ID-WSF Identity Web Services Framework 

ID-WSF DST Identity Web Services Framework Data Services Template 

IE Internet Explorer 

IEC International Electrotechnical Commission 

IED intelligent electronic device 

IEEE-SA IEEE Standards Association 

IESG Internet Security Steering Group 

IETF Internet Engineering Task Force 

IETF BCP Internet Engineering Task Force Best Current Practice 

IETF RFC Internet Engineering Task Force Request for Comments 

11 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

IGMP Internet Group Management Protocol 

IGP interior gateway protocol 

IID interface identifier 

IIF information in identifiable form 

IIHI individually identifiable health information 

IIS Internet Information Services 

IKE Internet Key Exchange 

IM instant messaging 

IMAP Internet Message Access Protocol 

IMEI International Mobile Equipment Identity 

IMSI International Mobile Subscriber Identity 

INCITS InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards 

IP Internet Protocol 

IPA initial privacy assessment 

IPComp Internet Protocol Payload Compression Protocol 

IPng Internet Protocol Next Generation 

IPS intrusion prevention system 

IPsec Internet Protocol Security 

IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4 

IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 

IPX Internet Packet Exchange 

IR infrared 

IR interagency report 

IRC Internet Relay Chat 

IrDA® Infrared Data Association® 

IRQ interrupt request line 

IRS Internal Revenue Service 

IRTF Internet Research Task Force 

IS information system 

ISA interconnection security agreement 

ISA International Society of Automation 

ISAC information sharing and analysis center 

ISAKMP Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol 

ISAP Information Security Automation Program 

ISAPI Internet Server Application Programming Interface 

ISATAP Intra-Site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol 

ISF Information Security Forum 

ISID Industrial Security Incident Database 

IS-IS Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System 

ISM industrial, scientific, and medical 

ISM information security marking 

ISMS information security management system 

ISO International Organization for Standardization 

ISP Internet service provider 

ISSEA International Systems Security Engineering Association 

ISSO information systems security officer 

ISSPM information systems security program manager 

IT information technology 

ITAA Information Technology Association of America 

ITF Interrogator Talks First 

ITL Information Technology Laboratory 

12 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ITU International Telecommunications Union 

ITU-T International Telecommunications Union-Telecommunication Standardization 

Sector 

IUT implementation under test 

IV initialization vector 

J 

Java EE Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 

JAXR Java API for XML Registries 

JFFS2 Journaling Flash File System, version 2 

JIT just-in-time 

JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group 

JRE Java Runtime Environment 

JSM Java Security Manager 

JSP Java Server Pages 

JSSE Java Secure Socket Extension 

JTAG Joint Test Action Group 

JTC1 Joint Technical Committee 1 (International Organization for Standardization 

[ISO]/International Electrotechnical Commission [IEC]) 

JVM Java Virtual Machine 

K 

KB kilobyte 

Kbps kilobit per second 

KDC key distribution center 

KEK key encryption key 

KG key generator 

KGD key generation and distribution 

kHz kilohertz 

KINK Kerberized Internet Negotiation of Keys 

KSG key stream generator 

KSK key signing key 

L 

L2CAP Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol 

L2F Layer 2 Forwarding 

L2TP Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol 

L2VPN Layer 2 Virtual Private Network 

L3VPN Layer 3 Virtual Private Network 

LACNIC Latin American and Caribbean IP Addresses Registry 

LAN local area network 

LCD liquid crystal display 

LDA local delivery agent 

LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol 

LED light emitting diode 

13 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

LF low frequency 

LFSR linear feedback shift register 

LIR local Internet registry 

LM LAN Manager 

LMP Link Manager Protocol 

LOC location (DNS record) 

LOS line-of-sight 

LRA Local Registration Authority 

LUA limited user account 

M 

m meter 

MAC mandatory access control 

MAC media access control (layer) 

MAC Medium Access Control 

MAC message authentication code 

MAF multi-mode authentication framework 

MAN metropolitan area network 

MAPS Mail Abuse Prevention System 

MB megabyte 

Mbps megabits per second 

MBR master boot record 

MBSA Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 

MD message digest 

ME mobile equipment 

MED multi-exit discriminator 

MEP message exchange pattern 

MES manufacturing execution system 

MHz megahertz 

MIB management information base 

MIC mandatory integrity control 

MIC message integrity check 

MIC message integrity code 

MIKEY Multimedia Internet KEYing 

MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions 

MIMO multiple-input, multiple-output 

MIN mobile identification number 

Mini SD mini secure digital 

MIP Mobile Internet Protocol 

MitM man-in-the-middle (attack) 

MLD Multicast Listener Discovery 

MMC Microsoft Management Console 

MMC MultiMediaCard 

MMCmobile MultiMediaCard Mobile 

MMS Multimedia Messaging Service 

MN mobile node 

MO magneto-optical 

MOA memorandum of agreement 

MOBIKE IKEv2 Mobility and Multihoming Protocol 

14 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

MODP modular exponential 

MOSS MIME Object Security Services 

MOU memorandum of understanding 

MOVS Modes of Operation Validation System 

MPA Mobile Prefix Advertisement 

MPLS multiprotocol label switching 

MPS Mobile Prefix Solicitation 

MQV Menezes-Qu-Vanstone 

MRI magnetic resonance imaging 

MS Microsoft 

MS mobile subscriber 

MSC mobile switching center 

MS-CHAP Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol 

MS-DOS Microsoft Disk Operating System 

MSDP Multicast Source Discovery Protocol 

MSEC multicast security 

MSEL Master Scenario Events List 

MSIL Microsoft Intermediate Language 

MSISDN Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network 

MSK master session key 

MSKB Microsoft Knowledge Base 

MSSP managed security services provider 

MSWG Metadata Standards Working Group 

MTA mail transfer agent 

MTM Mobile Trusted Module 

MTU master telemetry unit 

MTU master terminal unit 

MTU maximum transmission unit 

MUA mail user agent 

mW milliwatt 

MX mail exchanger 

N 

NA Neighbor Advertisement 

NAC network access control 

NACI National Agency Check and Inquiries 

NAP Network Access Protection 

NARA National Archives and Records Administration 

NAS network access server 

NAT network address translation 

NAT-PT network address translation—protocol translation 

NAT-T network address translation traversal 

NBA network behavior analysis 

NBAD network behavior anomaly detection 

NCES NetCentric Enterprise Services 

NCP National Checklist Program 

NCSD National Cyber Security Division 

NCSI NIST National Center for Standards and Certification Information 

ND Neighbor Discovery 

15 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

NDAC nondiscretionary access control 

NetBEUI NetBIOS Extended User Interface 

NetBIOS Network Basic Input/Output System 

NetBT NetBIOS over TCP/IP 

NFAT network forensic analysis tool 

NFC near field communication 

NFS network file system 

NFS Network File Sharing 

NH next header 

NIAC National Infrastructure Advisory Council 

NIAP National Information Assurance Partnership 

NIC network interface card 

NICC National Infrastructure Coordinating Center 

NIJ National Institute of Justice 

NIPC National Infrastructure Protection Center 

NIS Network Information System 

NISAC National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center 

NISCC National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre 

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology 

NISTIR National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency Report 

NLOS non-line-of-sight 

NPIVP NIST Personal Identity Verification Program 

NPPI nonpublic personal information 

NS name server 

NS Neighbor Solicitation 

NSA National Security Agency 

NSAPI Netscape Server Application Programming Interface 

NSEC Next Secure 

NSI national security information 

NSRL National Software Reference Library 

NSS Network Security Services 

NSTB National SCADA Test Bed 

NSTISSC National Security Telecommunications and Information Systems Security 

Committee 

NSTISSI National Security Telecommunications and Information Systems Security 

Instruction

NTFS New Technology File System 

NTLM NT LAN Manager 

NTP Network Time Protocol 

NTTAA National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 

NUD Neighbor Unreachability Detection 

NVD National Vulnerability Database 

NVLAP National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program 

NW3C National White Collar Crime Center 

NX no execute 

16 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

O 

OASISTM Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards 

OCC Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 

OCIO Office of the Chief Information Officer 

OCSP Online Certificate Status Protocol 

ODBC Open Database Connectivity 

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 

OEM original equipment manufacturer 

OFB output feedback (mode) 

OFDM orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing 

OGSATM Open Grid Services Architecture 

OHA Open Handset Alliance 

OIG Office of Inspector General 

OLE object linking and embedding 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

ONS Object Naming Service 

OOB out-of-band 

OPC OLE for Process Control 

OpenPGP An Open Specification for Pretty Good Privacy 

OPM U.S. Office of Personnel Management 

ORB open relay blacklist 

OS operating system 

OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

OSI Open Systems Interconnection 

OSPF Open Shortest Path First 

OSS open source software 

OSSTMM Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual 

OSVDB Open Source Vulnerability Database 

OTP one-time password 

OU organizational unit 

OVAL Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language 

OWASP Open Web Application Security Project 

OWL-S Web Ontology Language for Services 

P 

P2P peer-to-peer 

PAC Privilege Attribute Certificate 

PAC Protected Access Credential 

PAD peer authorization database 

PAM pluggable authentication module 

PAN personal area network 

PAOS Reverse HTTP Binding for SOAP 

PAP Password Authentication Protocol 

PAP policy access point 

PAS publicly available specification 

PBA pre-boot authentication 

PBAC policy-based access control 

PBCC Packet Binary Convolutional Code 

17 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

PBE pre-boot environment 

PBX private branch exchange 

PC personal computer 

PCI Payment Card Industry 

PCI personal identity verification card issuer 

PCI DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard 

PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card International Association 

PCN process control network 

PCP IP Payload Compression Protocol 

PCS process control system 

PCSF Process Control System Forum 

PCSRF Process Control Security Requirements Forum 

PDA personal digital assistant 

PDD Presidential Decision Directive 

PDF Portable Document Format 

PDP policy decision point 

PDS protective distribution systems 

PEAP Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol 

PED portable electronic devices 

PEM Privacy Enhanced Mail 

PEP policy enforcement point 

PFS perfect forward secrecy 

PGP Pretty Good Privacy 

PHI protected health information 

PHP PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor 

PHY Physical (layer) 

PIA privacy impact assessment 

PICSTM Platform for Internet Content Selection 

PII personally identifiable information 

PIM personal information management 

PIM-SM Protocol Independent Multicast—Sparse Mode 

PIN personal identification number 

PIP policy information point 

PIR Public Interest Registry 

PIV personal identity verification 

PKCS Public Key Cryptography Standard 

PKI public key infrastructure 

PKM privacy key management 

PKMv1 Privacy Key Management Protocol version 1 

PKMv2 Privacy Key Management Protocol version 2 

PL public law 

PLC programmable logic controller 

PMA Policy Management Authority 

PMK pairwise master key 

PMKSA Pairwise Master Key Security Association 

PMP point-to-multipoint 

PMTU path maximum transmission unit 

PN packet number 

PNG Portable Network Graphics 

POA&M plan of action and milestones 

POC point of contact 

18 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

POC proof of concept 

PoE Power over Ethernet 

POP Post Office Protocol 

POP3 Post Office Protocol version 3 

PP protection profile 

PPP Point-to-Point Protocol 

PPTP Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol 

PPVPN provisioner-provided virtual private network 

PRA Paperwork Reduction Act 

Pre-PAK pre-primary authorization key 

PRF pseudorandom function 

PRNG pseudorandom number generator 

PSK pre-shared key 

PSTN public switched telephone network 

PTA privacy threshold assessment (or analysis) 

PTK pairwise transient key 

PTV perceived target value 

PUB publication 

PUK PIN unblocking key 

PVG patch and vulnerability group 

Q 

QoP quality of protection 

QoS quality of service 

R 

R&D research and development 

R/W read/write 

RA receiver address 

RA Registration Authority 

RA remote assistance 

RA Router Advertisement 

RAdAC risk adaptive access control 

RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service 

RAID redundant array of independent disks 

RAM random access memory 

RAT remote administration tool 

RBAC role-based access control 

RC2 Rivest Cipher 2 

RC4 Rivest Cipher 4 

RCE route cache entry 

RCFL Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory 

RCP Remote Copy Protocol 

RDBMS relational database management system 

RDP Remote Desktop Protocol 

REL rights expression language 

REP Robots Exclusion Protocol 

19 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

REST Representational State Transfer 

RF radio frequency 

RFC request for comments 

RFD route flap damping 

RFID radio frequency identification 

RFP request for proposal 

RIB routing information base 

RIP Routing Information Protocol 

RIPE NCC Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre 

RIPng Routing Information Protocol next generation 

RIR regional internet registries 

RIS Remote Installation Services 

RMA reliability, maintainability, and availability 

RMON Remote Monitoring 

RNG random number generator 

ROE rules of engagement 

ROM read-only memory 

RP responsible person (record) 

RPC remote procedure call 

RPF Reverse Path Forwarding 

RPO recovery point objective 

RR resource record 

RRSIG resource record signature 

RS relay station 

RS Router Solicitation 

RSA Rivest-Shamir-Adelman 

RSBAC rule set-based access control 

RSN Robust Security Network 

RSNA Robust Security Network Association 

RSNIE Robust Security Network Information Element 

RSO reduced sign-on 

RSS Really Simple Syndication 

RSSI received signal strength indication 

RSVP Resource ReSerVation Protocol 

RTF Rich Text Format 

RTLS real-time location system 

RTO recovery time objective 

RTP Real-Time Transport Protocol 

RTU remote terminal unit or remote telemetry unit

RuBAC rule-based access control 

R-UIM Removable User Identity Module 

S 

S/MIME Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions 

SA security association 

SA source address 

SACL system access control list 

SAD security association database 

SAFER Secure And Fast Encryption Routine 

20 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

SAID security association identifier 

SAISO senior agency information security officer 

SAM Security Account Manager 

SAM software asset management 

SAMATE Software Assurance Metrics and Tool Evaluation 

SAMLTM Security Assertion Markup LanguageTM 

SAN storage area network 

S-BGP Secure Border Gateway Protocol 

SC subcommittee 

SCADA supervisory control and data acquisition 

SCAP Security Content Automation Protocol 

SCP Secure Copy Protocol 

SCSI Small Computer System Interface 

SCTP Stream Control Transmission Protocol 

SD Secure Digital 

SDIO Secure Digital Input Output 

SDK software development kit 

SDLC System Development Life Cycle 

SDO standards development organization 

SDP Session Description Protocol 

SDP Service Discovery Protocol 

SEI Software Engineering Institute 

SEM security event management 

SEND Secure Neighbor Discovery 

SEP secure entry point 

SFTP Secure File Transfer Protocol 

SHA Secure Hash Algorithm 

SHA-1 Secure Hash Algorithm 1 

shim6 Site Multihoming by IPv6 Intermediation 

SHS Secure Hash Standard 

SIA Security Industry Association 

SID security identifier 

SIEM security information and event management 

SIG special interest group 

SIIT Stateless IP/ICMP Translation Algorithm 

SIM security information management 

SIM subscriber identity module 

SIP Session Initiation Protocol 

SIS safety instrumented system 

SKEME Secure Key Exchange Mechanism 

SLA service level agreement 

SMB Server Message Block 

SME subject matter expert 

S/MIME Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions 

SMS Short Message Service 

SMS Systems Management Server 

SMT scar, mark and tattoo 

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol 

SNL Sandia National Laboratories 

SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol 

SNTP Simple Network Time Protocol 

21 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

SOA service-oriented architecture 

SOA start of authority (resource record) 

soBGP Secure Origin Border Gateway Protocol 

SoD separation of duties 

SOHO small office/home office 

SOP standard operating procedure 

SOR system of records 

SORN system of records notice 

SOX Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 

SP service pack 

SP special publication 

SPD security policy database 

SPI security parameters index 

SPL Structured Product Labeling 

SPMLTM Service Provisioning Markup LanguageTM 

SPP-ICS System Protection Profile for Industrial Control Systems 

SQL Structured Query Language 

SR service release 

SRES signed response 

SRTP Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol 

SS subscriber station 

SSDP Simple Service Discovery Protocol 

SSE-CMM Systems Security Engineering-Capability Maturity Model 

SSH Secure Shell 

SSI Server Side Includes 

SSID service set identifier 

SSL Secure Sockets Layer 

SSLF Specialized Security-Limited Functionality 

SSN social security number 

SSO single sign-on 

SSoD static separation of duty 

SSP secure simple pairing 

SSPI Security Support Provider Interface 

ST security target 

STA station 

STIG security technical implementation guide 

STS security token service 

SUID Set-User-ID 

SWSA Semantic Web Services Initiative Architecture 

SZ security zone 

T 

TA test assertion 

TA transmitter address 

TACACS Terminal Access Controller Access Control System 

TAG technical advisory group 

TB terabyte 

TC technical committee 

22 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

TC68 ISO/IEC Technical Committee 68 

TCP Transmission Control Protocol 

TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol 

TDEA Triple Data Encryption Algorithm 

TDM time division multiplexing 

TDMA time division multiple access 

TEK traffic encryption key 

TERENA Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association 

TFT thin film transistor 

TFTP Trivial File Transfer Protocol 

TGS ticket-granting service 

TIA® Telecommunications Industry Association 

TID tag identifier 

TK temporal key 

TKIP Temporal Key Integrity Protocol 

TLD top-level domain 

TLS Transport Layer Security 

TMOVS Modes of Operation Validation System for the Triple DES Algorithm 

TOE target of evaluation 

TOS trusted operating system 

ToS Type of Service 

TPC transmission power control 

TPM trusted platform module 

TR technical report

TRT transport relay translator 

TS technical specification 

TSA time stamping authority 

TSC TKIP sequence counter 

TSIG Secret Key Transaction Authentication for DNS 

TSIG Transaction Signature 

TSN transitional security network 

TSP Time-Stamp Protocol 

TT&E test, training, and exercise 

TTF tag talks first 

TTL time to live 

TTLS Tunneled Transport Layer Security 

TTP trusted third party 

TXT text (record) 

U 

U.S. United States 

U.S.C. United States Code 

UAC User Account Control 

UART universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter 

UBR Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) Business Registry 

UCC Uniform Code Council, Inc. 

UCE unsolicited commercial email 

UDDITM Uniform Description, Discovery, and IntegrationTM 

UDF Universal Disk Format 

23 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

UDP User Datagram Protocol 

UFS UNIX File System 

UHF ultra high frequency 

UI user interface 

UK United Kingdom 

UL Underwriters’ Laboratories® 

ULA unique local address 

ULP upper layer protocol 

UML® Unified Modeling LanguageTM 

UMPC ultra-mobile personal computer 

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System 

UNII Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure 

UPC Universal Product Code 

UPnP Universal Plug and Play 

UPS uninterruptable power supply 

URI Uniform Resource Identifier 

URL Uniform Resource Locator 

USB Universal Serial Bus 

US-CERT United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team 

USIM UMTS Subscriber Identity Module or Universal Subscriber Identity Module 

UTM unified threat management 

UUID Universally Unique Identifier 

UWB ultrawideband 

V 

VB Visual Basic 

VB.NET Visual Basic .NET 

VBA Visual Basic for Applications 

VBScript Visual Basic Script 

VFD variable frequency drive 

VHD virtual hard drive 

VHF very high frequency 

VLAN virtual local area network 

VM virtual machine 

VMS vulnerability management system 

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol 

VOIPSA Voice over IP Security Alliance 

VPN virtual private network 

VPNC Virtual Private Network Consortium 

VRRP Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol 

W 

W3C® World Wide Web Consortium 

WAN wide area network 

WAP wireless access point 

WAP Wireless Application Protocol 

WaSP Web Standards Project 

24 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

WAVE Wireless Access for Vehicular Environment 

WAYF Where Are You From 

WCCP Web Cache Coordination Protocol 

W-CDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access 

WDS wireless distribution system 

WebDAV Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning 

WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy 

WfMC Workflow Management Coalition 

WfMS workflow management system 

WG working group 

WIDPS wireless intrusion detection and prevention system 

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access 

WLAN wireless local area network 

WMAN wireless metropolitan area network 

WMM® Wi-Fi MultimediaTM 

WORM write once, read many 

WPA Wi-Fi Protected Access 

WPA2® Wi-Fi Protected Access® 2 

WPAN wireless personal area network 

WS Web services 

WSDL Web Services Description Language 

WSH Windows Script Host 

WS-I Web services interoperability

WS-I Web Services Interoperability Organization 

WSS4J Web Services Security for Java 

WS-Security Web Services Security 

WSUS Windows Server Update Services 

WVE Wireless Vulnerabilities and Exploits 

WWAN wireless wide area network

WWW World Wide Web 

XYZ 

XACL XML Access Control Language 

XACMLTM eXtensible Access Control Markup LanguageTM 

XCBC XOR Cipher Block Chaining 

XCCDF eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format 

XHTML Extensible Hypertext Markup Language 

XKMS XML Key Management Specification 

XML Extensible Markup Language 

XOR exclusive OR 

XrML eXtensible Rights Markup Language 

XSD XML Schema Definition 

XSL Extensible Stylesheet Language 

XSLT Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation 

XSS cross-site scripting 

ZSK zone signing key 

25 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Appendix A—References 

Sources used in the development of the list of system and network security acronyms and abbreviations in 

this document include the following: 

National Institute of Standards and Technology Publications, NIST Computer Security Division 

Resource Center Web site, http://csrc.nist.gov/ 

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), http://www.ietf.org/

Microsoft Hardware Developer Central, Glossary of Acronyms for PC and Server Technologies, 

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/resources/support/glossary.mspx

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), 

http://www.oasis-open.org/home/index.php

26 
SYSTEM AND NETWORK SECURITY ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Appendix B—Former Acronyms 

Over time, as organizations, technologies, or other entities change, some acronyms associated with them 

may lose their definitions and thus no longer be considered acronyms. This appendix presents selected 

former acronyms related to system and network security. As additional acronyms in this publication lose 

their definitions, readers are encouraged to send notification of these, along with references to 

authoritative sources of information, to securityacronyms@nist.gov for possible inclusion in future 

releases of this report. 

IEEE Originally defined as “Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.” 

Definition dropped by the organization 

(http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/home/index.html). 

SOAP Originally defined as “Simple Object Access Protocol.” Definition dropped as of 

April 2007 (http://www.w3.org/TR/soap12-part1/#intro). 

27