3DES
Triple Data Encryption Standard
AD
Active Directory
Address Resolution Protocol
Used to determine the Ethernet MAC address of a host when only its IP address is known.
ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
AES
Advanced Encryption Standard
AH
Authentication Header
Amazon WorkSpaces
Desktop computing service on the AWS cloud. Allows to provision cloud-based virtual desktops.
AMI
Amazon Machine Image
API
Application Programming Interface
APN
AWS Partner Network
ARP
Address Resolution Protocol
AS
Autonomous System
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASG
Astaro Security Gateway
Astaro Security Gateway
Former Name of Sophos UTM
Authentication Header
IPsec protocol that provides for anti-replay and verifies that the contents of the packet have not been modified in transit.
Auto Scaling
Web service to launch or terminate Amazon EC2 instances automatically based on policies, schedules and health checks.
Autonomous System
Collection of IP networks and routers under the control of one entity that presents a common routing policy to the Internet.
Availability Zones
Each Amazon data center location is called a region, each region contains multiple distinct locations called Availability Zones, or AZs.
AWE
Astaro Wireless Extension
AWE client
Client daemon which runs on access points and REDs with wireless support. It registers access points on the UTM.
AWS
Amazon Web Services
AWS CloudFormation
Free service for AWS customers which provides tools needed to create and manage the infrastructure a particular software application requires to run on AWS.
AWS Partner Network
Global partner program for Amazon Web Services, which is focused on helping partners build a successful AWS-based business.
AZ
Availability Zone
BATV
Bounce Address Tag Validation
BGP
Border Gateway Protocol
Bounce Address Tag Validation
Name of a method designed for determining whether the return address specified in an email message is valid. It is designed to reject bounce messages to forged return addresses.
Broadcast
The address used by a computer to send a message to all other computers on the network at the same time. For example, a network with IP address 192.168.2.0 and network mask 255.255.255.0 would have a broadcast address of 192.168.2.255.
BYOL
Bring Your Own License
CA
Certificate Authority
CBC
Cipher Block Chaining
CCL
Content Control List
CDMA
Code Division Multiple Access
Certificate Authority
Entity or organization that issues digital certificates for use by other parties.
CHAP
Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol
CIDR
Classless Inter-Domain Routing
Cipher Block Chaining
Refers in cryptography to a mode of operation where each block of plaintext is "XORed" with the previous ciphertext block before being encrypted. This way, each ciphertext block is dependent on all plaintext blocks up to that point.
Classless Inter-Domain Routing
Set of IP standards to create unique identifiers for networks and individual devices.
CLI
Command Line Interface
CloudFormation
Free service for AWS customers which provides tools needed to create and manage the infrastructure a particular software application requires to run on AWS.
CloudFormation Console
User interface of the CloudFormation service.
CloudFormation Template
Template which describes the Amazon Web Service infrastructure.
CloudWatch
A component of Amazon Web Services which provides monitoring of AWS resources and applications running on the Amazon infrastructure.
Cluster
Group of linked computers, working together closely so that in many respects they form a single computer.
CMS
Content Management System
CPU
Central Processing Unit
CRL
Certificate Revocation List
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets
DC
Domain Controller
DCC
Direct Client Connection
DDoS
Distributed Denial of Service
DER
Distinguished Encoding Rules
Destination Network Address Translation
Special case of NAT where the destination addresses of data packets are rewritten.
Device tree
Located below the main menu. Grants access to all gateway units registered with the SUM.
DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
Digital Signature Algorithm
Standard propagated by the United States Federal Government (FIPS) for digital signatures.
Digital Subscriber Line
Family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network.
Distinguished Encoding Rules
Method for encoding a data object, such as an X.509 certificate, to be digitally signed or to have its signature verified.
DKIM
Domain Keys Identified Mail
DMZ
Demilitarized Zone
DN
Distinguished Name
DNAT
Destination Network Address Translation
DNS
Domain Name Service
DOI
Domain of Interpretation
Domain Name Service
Translates the underlying IP addresses of computers connected through the Internet into more human-friendly names or aliases.
DoS
Denial of Service
DSA
Digital Signature Algorithm
DSCP
Differentiated Services Code Point
DSL
Digital Subscriber Line
DUID
DHCP Unique Identifier
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
Protocol used by networked devices to obtain IP addresses.
eBGP
Exterior Border Gateway Protocol
EBS
Elastic Block Store
EC
Elliptic Curve (public key encryption technology)
EC2
Elastic Compute Cloud
EC2 Instance
Compute instance in Amazon EC2 service.
ECN
Explicit Congestion Notification
EIP
Elastic IP
Elastic Compute Cloud
Amazon EC2 provides scalable computing capacity in AWS which allows users to rent virtual computers to run their own computer applications.
Elastic IP
Static IP addresses for dynamic cloud computing, which is associated with an account. You control the address until you explicitly release it.
Elastic Load Balancing
Load balancing solution which automatically scales incoming application traffic across multiple targets.
ELB
Elastic Load Balancing
Encapsulating Security Payload
IPsec protocol that provides data confidentiality (encryption), anti-replay, and authentication.
ESP
Encapsulating Security Payload
Explicit Congestion Notification
Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) is an extension to the Internet Protocol and allows end-to-end notifications of network congestion without dropping packets. ECN only works if both endpoints of a connection successfully negotiate to use it.
FAT
File Allocation Table
File Transfer Protocol
Protocol for exchanging files over packet-swichted networks.
FQHN
Fully Qualified HostName
FTP
File Transfer Protocol
Generic Routing Encapsulation
Tunneling protocol which provides a private, secure path for transporting packets through an otherwise public network.
GeoIP
Technique to locate devices worldwide by means of satellite imagery.
GRE
Generic Routing Encapsulation
GSM
Global System for Mobile Communications
H.323
Protocol providing audio-visual communication sessions on packet-switched networks.
HA
High Availability
HCL
Hardware Compatibility List
HELO
A command in the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) with which the client responds to the initial greeting of the server.
High Availability
System design protocol that ensures a certain absolute degree of operational continuity.
HIPS
Host-based Intrusion Prevention System
HMAC
Hash-based Message Authentication Code
HTML
Hypertext Transfer Markup Language
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTP pipelining
Technique in which several HTTP requests are sent without waiting for each request to respond.
HTTP/S
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Protocol for the transfer of information on the Internet.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer
Protocol to allow more secure HTTP communication.
IAM
AWS Identity and Access Management
IANA
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
iBGP
Interior Border Gateway Protocol
ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol
ID
Identity
IDE
Intelligent Drive Electronics
IDENT
Standard protocol that helps identify the user of a particular TCP connection.
Identity and Access Management
Amazon web service to control who can use your AWS resources and in which way.
IDN
International Domain Name
IE
Internet Explorer
IKE
Internet Key Exchange
IM
Instant Messaging
Internet Control Message Protocol
Special kind of IP protocol used to send and receive information about the network's status and other control information.
Internet Protocol
Data-oriented protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched network.
Internet Relay Chat
Open protocol enabling the instant communication over the Internet.
Internet service provider
Business or organization that sells to consumers access to the Internet and related services.
Intrusion Prevention System
Network security and threat prevention technology that examines network traffic flows to detect and prevent vulnerability.
IP
Internet Protocol
IP Address
Unique number that devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol standard.
IPS
Intrusion Prevention System
IPsec
Internet Protocol Security
IRC
Internet Relay Chat
ISP
Internet Service Provider
L2TP
Layer Two (2) Tunneling Protocol
LAG
Link Aggregation Group
LAN
Local Area Network
LDAP
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
Link-state advertisement
Basic communication means of the OSPF routing protocol for IP.
Local WiFi Device
SG appliance with WiFi capability on board
LSA
Link-state advertisement
LTE
3GPP Long Term Evolution
MAC
Media Access Control
MAC Address
Unique code assigned to most forms of networking hardware.
Managed Security Service Provider
Provides security services for companies.
Management Information Base
Type of database used to manage the devices in a communications network. It comprises a collection of objects in a (virtual) database used to manage entities (such as routers and switches) in a network.
Masquerading
Technology based on NAT that allows an entire LAN to use one public IP address to communicate with the rest of the Internet.
MD5
Message-Digest algorithm 5
Message-Digest algorithm 5
Cryptographic hash function with a 128-bit hash value.
MIB
Management Information Base
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
MPLS
Multiprotocol Label Switching
MPPE
Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption
MSCHAP
Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
MSCHAPv2
Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol Version 2
MSP
Managed Service Provider
MSSP
Managed Security Service Provider
MTU
Maximum Tansmission Unit
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
Internet Standard that extends the format of email to support text in character sets other than US-ASCII, non-text attachments, multi-part message bodies, and header information in non-ASCII character sets.
MX record
Type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) specifying how emails should be routed through the Internet.
NAS
Network Access Server
NAT
Network Address Translation
NAT-T
NAT Traversal
Network Access Control List
Security layer which acts as firewall to control traffic in and out of subnets.
Network Address Translation
System for reusing IP addresses.
Network Time Protocol
Protocol for synchronizing the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched networks.
NIC
Network Interface Card
Not-so-stubby area
In the OSPF protocol, a type of stub area that can import autonomous system (AS) external routes and send them to the backbone, but cannot receive AS external routes from the backbone or other areas.
NSSA
Not-so-stubby area
NTLM
NT LAN Manager (Microsoft Windows)
NTP
Network Time Protocol
OGW
Outbound Gateway
Open Shortest Path First
Link-state, hierarchical interior gateway protocol (IGP) for network routing.
OpenPGP
Protocol combining strong public-key and symmetric cryptography to provide security services for electronic communications and data storage.
OSI
Open Source Initiative
OSPF
Open Shortest Path First
OU
Organisational Unit
PAC
Proxy Auto Configuration
PAP
Password Authentication Protocol
PAYG
Pay As You Go
PCI
Peripheral Component Interconnect
PEM
Privacy Enhanced Mail
PGP
Pretty Good Privacy
PKCS
Public Key Cryptography Standards
PKI
Public Key Infrastructure
PMTU
Path Maximum Transmission Unit
PoE
Power over Ethernet
POP3
Post Office Protocol version 3
Port
Virtual data connection that can be used by programs to exchange data directly. More specifically, a port is an additional identifier—in the cases of TCP and UDP, a number between 0 and 65535 – that allows a computer to distinguish between multiple concurrent connections between the same two computers.
Portscan
Action of searching a network host for open ports.
Post Office Protocol version 3
Protocol for delivery of emails across packet-switched networks.
Power over Ethernet
Provides a device with data connection and electric power through one Ethernet cable.
PPP
Point-to-Point Protocol
PPPoA
PPP over ATM Protocol
PPTP
Point to Point Tunneling Protocol
Privacy Enhanced Mail
Early IETF proposal for securing email using public key cryptography.
Protocol
Well-defined and standardized set of rules that controls or enables the connection, communication, and data transfer between two computing endpoints.
Proxy
Computer that offers a computer network service to allow clients to make indirect network connections to other network services.
PSK
Preshared Key
QoS
Quality of Service
RADIUS
Remote Authentication Dial In User Service
RAID
Redundant Array of Independent Disks
RAM
Random Access Memory
RAS
Remote Access Server
RBL
Realtime Blackhole List
RDN
Relative Distinguished Name
RDNS
Reverse Domain Name Service
RDP
Remote Desktop Protocol
Real-time Blackhole List
Means by which an Internet site may publish a list of IP addresses linked to spamming. Most mail transport agent (mail server) software can be configured to reject or flag messages which have been sent from a site listed on one or more such lists. For webservers as well it is possible to reject clients listed on an RBL.
RED
Remote Ethernet Device
Redundant Array of Independent Disks
Refers to a data storage scheme using multiple hard drives to share or replicate data among the drives.
Remote Authentication Dial In User Service
Protocol designed to allow network devices such as routers to authenticate users against a central database.
RFC
Request for Comment
Router
Network device that is designed to forward packets to their destination along the most efficient path.
RPS
RED Provisioning Service
RSA
Rivest, Shamir, & Adleman (public key encryption technology)
S/MIME
Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
S3
Simple Storage Solution
S3 bucket
Logical unit which stores objects that consist of data and metadata which describe the data.
SA
Security Associations
SAA
Sophos Authentication Agent
Sandbox
A sandbox is a security mechanism to execute software in a restricted operating system environment.
SCP
Secure Copy (from the SSH suite of computer applications for secure communication)
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface
Secure Shell
Protocol that allows establishing a secure channel between a local and a remote computer across packet-switched networks.
Secure Sockets Layer
Cryptographic protocol that provides secure communications on the Internet, predecessor of the Transport LayerSecurity (TLS).
Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
Standard for public key encryption and signing of email encapsulated in MIME.
Security Group
Acts as virtual firewall for an AWS instance to control inbound and outbound traffic.
Security Parameter Index
Identification tag added to the header while using IPsec for tunneling the IP traffic.
Sender Policy Framework
Extension to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). SPF allows software to identify and reject forged addresses in the SMTP MAIL FROM (Return-Path), a typical annoyance of email spam.
Session Initiation Protocol
Signalization protocol for the setup, modification and termination of sessions between two or several communication partners. The text-oriented protocol is based on HTTP and can transmit signalization data through TCP or UDP via IP networks. Thus, it is the base among others for Voice-over-IP videotelephony (VoIP) and multimedia services in real time.
SFQ
Stochastic Fairness Queuing
Shared Secret
Password or passphrase shared between two entities for secure communication.
SIM
Subscriber Identification Module
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
Protocol used to send and receive email across packet-switched networks.
Simple Notification Service
Notification service which provides mass delivery of messages, predominantly to mobile users.
Simple Storage Service
Amazon web service which provides storage through web services interfaces.
Single sign-on
Form of authentication that enables a user to authenticate once and gain access to multiple applications and systems using a single password.
SIP
Session Initiation Protocol
SLAAC
Stateless Address Autoconfiguration
SlowHTTP
SlowHTTP attacks are DoS attacks, in which the attacker sends HTTP requests slowly and in pieces to a Webserver. So the Webserver keeps its resources busy waiting for the data. A DoS is created when the server's concurrent connection pool reaches its maximum.
SMB
Server Message Block
SMP
Symmetric Multiprocessing
SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SNAT
Source Network Address Translation
SNMP
Simple Network Message Protocol
SNS
Simple Notification Service
SOCKetS
Internet protocol that allows client-server applications to transparently use the services of a network firewall. SOCKS, often called the Firewall Traversal Protocol, is currently at version 5 and must be implemented in the client-side program in order to function correctly.
SOCKS
SOCKetS
Sophos UTM Manager
Software for monitoring and administering multiple UTM units by means of a single interface. Formerly known as Astaro Command Center.
Source Network Address Translation
Special case of NAT. With SNAT, the IP address of the computer which initiated the connection is rewritten.
Spanning Tree Protocol
Network protocol to detect and prevent bridge loops
SPF
Sender Policy Framework
SPI
Security Parameter Index
SPX
Secure PDF Exchange
SSH
Secure Shell
SSID
Service Set Identifier
SSL
Secure Sockets Layer
SSO
Single sign-on
STARTTLS
Takes an existing insecure connection and upgrades it to a secure connection using SSL/TLS.
STP
Spanning Tree Protocol
SUA
Sophos User Authentication
Subnet mask
The subnet mask (also called netmask) of a network, together with the network address, defines which addresses are part of the local network and which are not. Individual computers will be assigned to a network on the basis of the definition.
SUM
Sophos UTM Manager
Symmetric Multiprocessing
The use of more than one CPU.
SYN
Synchronous
TACACS
Terminal Access Controller Access Control System
TCP
Transmission Control Protocol
TFTP
Trivial File Transfer Protocol
Time-to-live
8-bit field in the Internet Protocol (IP) header stating the maximum amount of time a packet is allowed to propagate through the network before it is discarded.
TKIP
Temporal Key Integrity Protocol
TLS
Transport Layer Security
TOS
Type of Service
Transmission Control Protocol
Protocol of the Internet protocol suite allowing applications on networked computers to create connections to one another. The protocol guarantees reliable and in-order delivery of data from sender to receiver.
Transport Layer Security
Cryptographic protocol that provides secure communications on the Internet, successor of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
TTL
Time-to-live
UDP
User Datagram Protocol
UMTS
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
Unified Threat Management
Software for unified threat management, including mail and web security. Formerly known as Astaro Security Gateway.
Uniform Resource Locator
String that specifies the location of a resource on the Internet.
Uninterruptible power supply
Device which maintains a continuous supply of electric power to connected equipment by supplying power from a separate source when utility power is not available.
Up2Date
Service that allows downloading relevant update packages from the Sophos server.
UPS
Uninterruptible Power Supply
URL
Uniform Resource Locator
USB
Universal Serial Bus
User Datagram Protocol
Protocol allowing applications on networked computers to send short messages sometimes known as datagrams to one another.
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
UTM
Unified Threat Management
VDSL
Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line
Virtual Private Cloud
VPC provides secure data transfer between private enterprises and public cloud provider. Each data remains isolated from every other data both in transit and inside the cloud provider's network.
Virtual Private Network
Private data network that makes use of the public telecommunication infrastructure, maintaining privacy through the use of a tunneling protocol such as PPTP or IPsec.
VLAN
Virtual LAN
VNC
Virtual Network Computing
Voice over IP
Routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.
VoIP
Voice over IP
VPC
Virtual Private Cloud
VPN
Virtual Private Network
VXLAN
Virtual eXtensible LAN
W-CDMA
Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
WAF
Web Application Firewall
WAN
Wide Area Network
Web Application Firewall
WAF, also known as reverse proxy, applies a set of rules to an HTTP conversation and therefore protects webservers from attacks and malicious behavior like cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and others.
WebAdmin
Web-based graphical user interface of Sophos/Astaro products such as UTM, SUM, ACC, ASG, AWG, and AMG.
WEP
Wired Equivalent Privacy
Windows Internet Naming Service
Microsoft's implementation of NetBIOS Name Server (NBNS) on Windows, a name server and service for NetBIOS computer names.
WINS
Windows Internet Naming Service
WLAN
Wireless Local Area Network
WPA
Wi-Fi Protected Access
X.509
Specification for digital certificates published by the ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union – Telecommunication). It specifies information and attributes required for the identification of a person or a computer system.
XSS
Cross-site scripting