Cybersecurity Glossary

HTTPS (also called HTTP over TLS, HTTP over SSL, and HTTP secure) is an internet protocol used for secure communication over a computer network. HTTPS is very important over insecure networks (such as public wifi), as anyone on the same local network can discover sensitive information not protected by HTTPS. HTTPS consists of communication over hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) within a connection encrypted by transport layer security or its predecessor, secure sockets layer.

Hijacking is a network security attack by which the intruder takes control of a connection, while a session is in progress. The intruder gains unauthorized access to the information.

A hub is a network device that is a common connection point for devices in a network. These are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a data packet is received at one port, it is transmitted to the other ports on the hub.

A hot site is a fully operational offsite data processing facility equipped with hardware and software, to be used in the event of an information system disruption. Backup site that includes phone systems with the phone lines already connected. Networks will also be in place, with any necessary routers and switches plugged in and turned on. Desks will have desktop pcs installed and waiting, and server areas will be replete with the necessary hardware to support business-critical functions. Within a few hours, a hot site can become a fully functioning element of an organization.

A hash function is a function that is used to map data of arbitrary size to data of a known or fixed size. The values returned by a hash function are called hash values, hash codes, hash sums, or simply hashes.

Honeyclient is a web browser-based high interaction client honeypot designed by Kathy Wang in 2004 and subsequently developed at mitre. It was the first open source client honeypot and is a mix of Perl, C++, and Ruby. Honeyclient is state-based and detects attacks on windows clients by monitoring files, process events, and registry entries.

An HTTP proxy is a server that receives requests from your web browser and then, requests the internet on your behalf. It then returns the results to your browser.

High assurance guard is an enclave boundary protection device that controls access between a local area network that an enterprise system has a requirement to protect, and an external network that is outside the control of the enterprise system, with a high degree of assurance. A guard that has two basic functional capabilities: a message guard and a directory guard. The message guard provides filter service for message traffic traversing the guard between adjacent security domains. The directory guard provides filter service for directory access and updates traversing the guard between adjacent security domains.

A hash total is a method of verifying the accuracy of data; it includes adding up the data in different fields including fields, which have no significance such as account numbers, etc. The sum thus arrived should be the same as original, a mismatch in the totals indicates an error.

A host-based intrusion detection system (HIDS) is an intrusion detection system that monitors and analyzes information from the operating system audit records occurring on the host. These operations are then compared to a predefined security policy norm. This analysis of the audit trail forces significant overhead requirements on the system due to the increased amount of processing power which must be utilized by the intrusion detection system. Depending on the size of the audit trail and the processing ability of the system, the review of audit data could result in the loss of a real-time analysis capability.