Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Glossary

A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M  |  N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z

Glossary terms and definitions last updated: August 19, 2024

This Glossary is an aggregation of terms and definitions specified in NIST's cybersecurity and privacy standards, guidelines, and other technical publications, and in CNSSI 4009. These should not be viewed as "official" or "preferred" definitions for a particular subject area, sector, or industry, with the exception that some definitions are cited directly from U.S. laws, the Code of Federal Regulations, Presidential Directives, etc.

Each term-definition pair must be understood within the context of its Source document, to which readers should refer. Because of this, many terms have multiple, varying definitions that reflect the different contexts of various publications written at different times.

  • Cite the source publication, not this website. As our documents are published and withdrawn, the terminology on these web pages will change. When citing terms and definitions, we encourage you to cite the source publication for the authoritative terminology and to understand it in its proper context. Many terms on this website have different definitions, from multiple publications.
  • Inclusive language. Some existing NIST publications may contain potentially biased or confusing terminology. As we develop and revise publications, we follow NIST's inclusive language guidance.
  • Public input. We invite public comments—including terminology suggestions—on our draft publications and welcome your contributions.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) terminology. For AI-focused terminology, see the Glossary available from the NIST Trustworthy & Responsible AI Resource Center.
A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M  |  N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z
Showing 656 matching records.
a
A
A&A
A3
AA
AAA
AAD
AAL
AAP
AAR
AAS
ABE
ABI
AC
ACA
ACC
ACD
ACE
ACI
ACK
ACL
ACM
ACO
ACR
ACT
AD
ADC
ADK
ADP
ADS
AE
AES
AF
AFR
AFW
AGA
AH
AHA
AI
AIA
AIC
AID
AIK
AIM
AIS
AIT
AKA
AKM
AKP
ALC
ALE
ALG
AMA
AML
AMM
AMP
ANC
ANS
AO
AP
API
APN
APS
APT
APU
AQL
ARF
ARM
ARP
ARX
AS
ASA
ASC
ASM
ASN
ASP
AST
AT
ATA
ATC
ATM
ATO
ATP
ATR
ATT
AU
AuC
AV
AVP
AWS

* "Relevance" merely indicates the search engine's score for a document. It is based on the search parameters and information in the document's detailed record.