Cybersecurity Glossary

A media access control address (MAC address) is also known as the physical address and is a unique identifier assigned to the network interface for communication. MAC addresses are generally used as a network address for most ieee 802 network technologies (including ethernet and wifi). MAC addresses are used in the media access control protocol sub-layer of the OSI reference model.

Malicious code is any code in any part of a software system or script that is intended to cause undesired effects, security breaches, or damage to a system. Such codes actually gain unauthorized access to system resources or trick a user into executing other malicious logic. Malicious code describes a broad category of system security terms that includes attack scripts, viruses, worms, trojan horses, backdoors, and malicious active content.

The measures of effectiveness (MOE) is a probability model based on engineering concepts that allows one to estimate the impact of a given action on an environment. MOE quantifies the results to be obtained by a system and may be expressed as probabilities that the system will perform as required.

Monoculture is the case where a large number of users run the same software, and are vulnerable to the same attacks.

The Morris worm (or internet worm) program was written by a graduate student at Cornell University, Robert Tappan Morris, and launched on November 2, 1988 from MIT. It was the first computer worm distributed via the internet and gained significant mainstream media attention.

A masquerade attack is any attack that uses a forged identity (such as a network identity) to gain unofficial access to a personal or organizational computer. Masquerade attacks are generally performed by using either stolen passwords and logins, locating gaps in programs, or finding a way around the authentication process. Such attacks are triggered either by someone within the organization or by an outsider if the organization is connected to a public network.

Malware is a short term used for malicious software. Malware is defined as any software that is used to interrupt or disrupt computer operations, gather sensitive information, or gain access to certain files or programs.

Multiplexing is a technique by which multiple analog or digital data streams are combined into one signal over a shared medium. Multiplexing originated in telegraphy in the 1870s, and is now widely applied in communications. The multiplexed signal is transmitted over a communication channel, such as a cable. A reverse process, known as demultiplexing, extracts the original channels on the receiver end.

Mandatory access control (MAC) is a security approach that contains the ability of an individual resource owner to grant or deny access to resources or files on the system. Whenever a user tries to access an object, an authorization rule is enforced by the OS. Kernel examines these security aspects and decides whether the user can access or not. Any operation by any user is typically tested against a set of authorisation rules (a.k.a. policy) to determine if the operation is allowed.

An IP multicast is a method of sending packets of data to a group of receivers in a single transmission. This method is often used to stream media applications on the internet and private networks.