Anatomy of Cybersecurity

A pair of credentials (like username and password) used to authenticate programmatic access to cloud services via APIs.

A set of best practices for protecting APIs against attacks and unauthorized access.

A set of rules and endpoints that let different software applications talk to each other, like a menu of available functions.

A vulnerability that allows users to access resources or operations they shouldn't have access to.

A vulnerability that occurs when data is written beyond buffer capacity and overwrites adjacent memory.

A technique to circumvent security controls, filters, or restrictions that are in place to block malicious activity.

Remote computing resources (servers, storage, networks) provided by companies like AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure, accessible over the internet without owning physical hardware.

Small pieces of data that websites store on user's browser to maintain information between requests.

Authentication information like passwords, API keys, tokens, or certificates used to verify identity and grant access.

A security mechanism that determines which domains can use resources from a website.

An attack that tricks a deceived user into sending unwanted requests to a website.

A security vulnerability that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users.

Vulnerabilities that occur due to improper use or lack of proper encryption to protect sensitive data.

An attack that takes a service offline by sending massive amounts of traffic from multiple sources.

A record of Domain Name System queries and responses, showing what domain names were looked up, when, and by whom. Used in security testing to detect blind vulnerabilities.

An attack where an attacker changes a domain's IP address mid-request, bypassing security checks by first pointing to safe IP then switching to internal/malicious one.

A human-readable address like example.com that maps to an IP address, making it easier to remember website locations.

A system that converts domain names (like google.com) to IP addresses so browsers can find websites.

The process of converting data into a format that can only be read with the proper key.

A specific URL where an API or service can be accessed to perform an action or retrieve data.

A piece of code or technique that takes advantage of a vulnerability to cause unintended behavior, like gaining unauthorized access or stealing data.

A security system that inspects and controls network traffic based on predefined rules.

A message sent by a client to a server asking for a resource or action, following standardized HTTP protocol rules.

A three-digit number returned by a server indicating the result of an HTTP request (200=success, 404=not found, 500=server error, etc.).

A protocol used for transferring data between browser and server, forming the foundation of web communications.

Vulnerabilities that allow attackers to impersonate other users or gain access to their accounts.

A vulnerability that allows attackers to send malicious data as code or commands to the system.

Vulnerabilities that occur due to flaws in architecture design and program logic, not coding bugs.

A service in cloud environments that provides instances with information about themselves, including temporary credentials, accessible at 169.254.169.254.

The process of discovering and mapping internal network resources, services, and vulnerabilities that aren't accessible from the internet.

A unique numerical identifier assigned to every device connected to a network so it can communicate with other devices.

JSON Web Token tokens are used for authentication and must be properly implemented and protected.

Malicious software designed to damage, steal information, or control systems.

An attack where attacker secretly intercepts or manipulates communication between two parties.

Data that describes other data. In cloud computing, it's configuration information about instances including temporary credentials.

A virtual endpoint in network through which different services communicate.

A seven-layer model that describes how network communications between systems work, with each layer having a specific function.

A technique where data is transmitted through a separate channel from the main communication. In security testing, it means getting confirmation of an exploit through external means (like a DNS request or HTTP callback).

A regularly updated list of the ten most critical web application security risks, published by the Open Web Application Security Project.

A social engineering attack where attacker impersonates a trusted entity to trick users into revealing sensitive information.

An attack where attacker elevates their access level from regular user to admin or higher level.

A vulnerability that occurs when multiple processes access a resource simultaneously and the result depends on execution order.

A vulnerability that allows attackers to execute their own code on the target server remotely.

Failure to log, monitor, and respond to security events which causes attacks to not be detected and stopped.

Vulnerabilities that occur due to incorrect or default settings of servers, applications, and services.

A communication model where the client (like a browser) makes requests and the server (powerful computer) provides responses.

A vulnerability that allows attackers to force the server to send requests to internal or external addresses.

A period of interaction between user and website that continues from login to logout.

Vulnerabilities that allow attackers to modify or tamper with code or data without verification.

A code injection technique that exploits vulnerabilities in an application's database layer by inserting malicious SQL statements into input fields, allowing attackers to manipulate or retrieve database contents.

Two main transport layer protocols where TCP is reliable and UDP is faster but doesn't guarantee delivery.

A security method that requires two different types of verification for login — usually password and temporary code.

A web address that specifies the location of a resource on the internet, like https://example.com/page.

A component that breaks down a URL into its parts (protocol, domain, path, etc.). Different parsers can interpret the same URL differently, creating security issues.

A virtual machine sold as a service, giving you dedicated server resources without physical hardware. Used for hosting websites, applications, or in security testing as attack infrastructure.

Using libraries, frameworks, and software that have known vulnerabilities or are not updated.

Techniques that attackers use to get past web application firewalls and reach the target server.

A security system that inspects web traffic and blocks malicious requests before they reach the server.

A security vulnerability that hasn't been discovered or fixed by the vendor yet and attackers can exploit it.