--- title: "Acronyms, in plain language" description: "Find the full name and a plain explanation of a technical acronym. Search by its letters, name or meaning." url: https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/ organization: ALT-F1 SRL, Brussels (VAT BE 0830.560.718) --- # Acronyms, in plain language Find the full name and a plain explanation of a technical acronym. Search by its letters, name or meaning. ## Security and protection ### CSP — Content Security Policy Browser rules that limit where a page may load or run scripts and other content. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#csp ### CVE — Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures A shared identifier for a publicly disclosed security vulnerability, used to track the same flaw across tools. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#cve ### DDoS — Distributed Denial of Service An attack that uses many sources to overwhelm a website or service with traffic. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#ddos ### DKIM — DomainKeys Identified Mail Adds a verifiable signature to email so the receiving server can check its sending domain and integrity. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#dkim ### DMARC — Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance Tells receiving mail servers how to handle messages that fail the domain’s email checks, and enables reports. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#dmarc ### EDR — Endpoint Detection and Response Software that watches laptops and servers for suspicious behaviour and helps isolate an affected device. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#edr ### MDR — Managed Detection and Response A service in which a security team monitors alerts, investigates threats and helps respond. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#mdr ### MFA — Multi-Factor Authentication Requires more than one kind of proof to sign in, such as a password plus confirmation on your phone. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#mfa ### OWASP — Open Worldwide Application Security Project A nonprofit foundation that publishes practical resources about software security, including the Top 10 risk list. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#owasp ### SIEM — Security Information and Event Management Collects security logs from different systems so people can search them and connect related events. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#siem ### SOAR — Security Orchestration, Automation and Response Links security tools and automates repeatable response steps, such as opening a case or blocking an address. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#soar ### SOC — Security Operations Centre The team and working environment used to monitor security alerts and coordinate incident response. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#soc ### SPF — Sender Policy Framework A domain setting that identifies which mail servers are allowed to send email for that domain. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#spf ### SSO — Single Sign-On Lets you sign in once with a company account and then use several connected applications. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#sso ### WAF — Web Application Firewall A filter that checks requests to your website and blocks suspicious ones before they reach the application. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#waf ### XDR — Extended Detection and Response Connects alerts from devices, email, accounts and networks so an investigation can follow the same attack across them. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#xdr ### XSS — Cross-Site Scripting A website flaw that can let an attacker run unwanted script in a visitor’s browser. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#xss ## Networks and connections ### API — Application Programming Interface An agreed way for one application to request data or actions from another application. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#api ### CDN — Content Delivery Network A network that can keep copies of website content nearer to visitors to deliver it faster. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#cdn ### DNS — Domain Name System Connects a name such as alt-f1.be to the address of the service a visitor needs to reach. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#dns ### HTTP — Hypertext Transfer Protocol The rules browsers and web servers use to exchange requests and responses. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#http ### HTTPS — Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure The encrypted form of the web connection used between your browser and a website, protected with TLS. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#https ### IP — Internet Protocol The network addressing system used to route data; an IP address identifies a network connection. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#ip ### SIP — Session Initiation Protocol A protocol used to set up and manage internet-based voice and video calls. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#sip ### TLS — Transport Layer Security Encrypts a connection between systems, such as a browser and a website. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#tls ### USB — Universal Serial Bus A common connection for devices and removable drives; a USB stick is a small removable storage device. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#usb ### VPN — Virtual Private Network An encrypted connection used, for example, to reach a company network while working remotely. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#vpn ## Software, storage and operations ### CI/CD — Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery or Deployment Automated checks and repeatable release steps for software. CD may mean delivery or deployment, depending on the workflow. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#ci-cd ### CMDB — Configuration Management Database An inventory that records systems, their owners and how they depend on one another. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#cmdb ### CRM — Customer Relationship Management Software used to organise customer contacts, sales activity and follow-up. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#crm ### ERP — Enterprise Resource Planning Software that connects business processes such as purchasing, stock, accounting and production. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#erp ### ICT — Information and Communication Technology IT and communication systems, including the technology used to exchange information. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#ict ### IT — Information Technology The computers, software, networks and related services an organisation uses. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#it ### ITIL — Information Technology Infrastructure Library The original name behind the ITIL service-management framework, used to organise support, incidents and changes. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#itil ### ITSM — IT Service Management How an organisation runs IT as a service: support requests, incidents, changes and responsibilities. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#itsm ### S3 — Simple Storage Service The name comes from Amazon’s object-storage service. S3-compatible storage uses a compatible API and can be run by another provider. Often used for backups and files. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#s3 ### SBOM — Software Bill of Materials An inventory of the components in a piece of software, useful when checking which systems contain a vulnerable component. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#sbom ### SLA — Service Level Agreement The written service commitments agreed with a provider, such as availability or response arrangements. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#sla ### SQL — Structured Query Language A language used to read and change data in many databases. A SQL injection tries to misuse those commands through an application. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#sql ## Artificial intelligence ### AI — Artificial Intelligence Software that performs tasks such as recognising patterns, generating text or helping classify information. Also written: IA https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#ai ### LLM — Large Language Model An AI model trained to work with language, for example to draft, summarise or answer questions. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#llm ### RAG — Retrieval-Augmented Generation An approach that retrieves relevant documents and supplies them to an AI model when it drafts an answer. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#rag ## Rules, standards and organisations ### CCB — Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium Belgium’s national cybersecurity authority. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#ccb ### CLOUD Act — Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act A US law concerning access to electronic evidence. A provider’s legal obligations cannot be determined from the storage country alone. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#cloud-act ### CRA — Cyber Resilience Act EU cybersecurity rules for products with digital elements, including certain software and connected devices. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#cra ### DORA — Digital Operational Resilience Act EU rules on digital operational resilience in the financial sector. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#dora ### DPO — Data Protection Officer The data-protection officer who advises and monitors an organisation’s data-protection compliance. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#dpo ### EU — European Union The European Union; UE is the French abbreviation. EEA is a different geographic scope and should not be treated as the same term. Also written: UE https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#eu ### GDPR — General Data Protection Regulation The EU regulation on personal-data protection. RGPD is the French name and AVG the Dutch name. Also written: RGPD, AVG https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#gdpr ### IEC — International Electrotechnical Commission The international organisation for electrotechnical standards; it publishes some standards jointly with ISO. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#iec ### ISO — International Organization for Standardization The international standards organisation. ISO is its universal short name, rather than initials translated from one language. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#iso ### NIS2 — Network and Information Systems Directive 2 An EU cybersecurity directive with requirements for organisations covered by its scope. Also written: NIS 2 https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#nis2 ### SEPA — Single Euro Payments Area The shared framework for euro bank payments, including transfers and direct debits. https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#sepa ### SME — Small and Medium-sized Enterprise A business-size category. ALT-F1 works with both these businesses and larger organisations. Also written: PME, KMO https://www.alt-f1.be/en/acronyms/#sme