← What we secure Glossary · 19 technologies

The technologies behind what we secure.

Plain-language explanations of the acronyms that show up in every security conversation — what each one actually does, and where it fits.

Extended Detection and Response (XDR)

Extended Detection and Response (XDR) is a unified cybersecurity platform that collects, correlates, and analyzes security data from multiple sources such as endpoints, networks, email, cloud workloads, identity systems, and applications. By combining telemetry across different security layers, XDR provides better visibility into sophisticated attacks, reduces alert fatigue, and enables faster detection, investigation, and automated response to threats from a single console.

Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR)

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) is a security solution designed to continuously monitor laptops, desktops, servers, and other endpoint devices for suspicious activities. It detects malicious behavior using behavioral analytics, threat intelligence, and machine learning, allowing security teams to investigate incidents, isolate compromised devices, terminate malicious processes, and remediate threats before they spread across the organization.

Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR)

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) focuses on protecting user identities, credentials, and authentication systems from compromise. It continuously monitors identity-related activities across directories, identity providers, privileged accounts, and cloud services to detect credential theft, privilege escalation, lateral movement, and account misuse. ITDR enables organizations to quickly respond by revoking access, resetting credentials, or enforcing additional authentication controls.

Zero Trust Architecture

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is a cybersecurity framework based on the principle of "Never Trust, Always Verify." Instead of automatically trusting users or devices inside the corporate network, every access request is continuously authenticated, authorized, and validated based on identity, device health, location, and risk. Zero Trust minimizes attack surfaces, limits lateral movement, and enforces least-privilege access across users, applications, and infrastructure.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a cloud-delivered architecture that combines networking and security services into a single platform. It integrates technologies such as SD-WAN, ZTNA, CASB, Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS), and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to provide secure access for users regardless of location. SASE enables organizations to securely support remote work, cloud adoption, and branch connectivity with consistent security policies.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a secure remote access technology that provides users with application-specific access rather than full network connectivity. Access is granted only after verifying the user's identity, device posture, and security policies, ensuring that users can reach only the applications they are authorized to use. ZTNA replaces traditional VPNs with a more secure, scalable, and least-privileged access model.

Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) is a security solution positioned between users and cloud applications to provide visibility, control, and protection for cloud usage. CASB enforces security policies for SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS environments by preventing unauthorized access, detecting shadow IT, protecting sensitive data, ensuring regulatory compliance, and identifying malicious activities within cloud applications.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is a security technology that identifies, monitors, and protects sensitive information from unauthorized access, sharing, or exfiltration. DLP solutions inspect data at rest, in motion, and in use across endpoints, networks, cloud services, email, and storage platforms. They enforce policies to prevent accidental or intentional leakage of confidential information such as customer records, intellectual property, and financial data.

Security Information & Event Management (SIEM)

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a centralized platform that collects, stores, and analyzes security logs and events from across an organization's IT environment. SIEM correlates events from multiple sources to detect potential security incidents, generate alerts, support compliance reporting, and provide security analysts with comprehensive visibility for threat investigation and incident response.

Security Orchestration, Automation & Response (SOAR)

Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) automates repetitive security operations and coordinates incident response across multiple security tools. It integrates SIEM, threat intelligence, endpoint protection, firewalls, identity platforms, and other technologies to automate workflows such as alert triage, enrichment, containment, and remediation, significantly reducing response times and improving operational efficiency.

Digital Risk Protection

Digital Risk Protection (DRP) helps organizations identify and mitigate risks that exist outside their traditional network perimeter. It continuously monitors the internet, dark web, social media, code repositories, and underground forums for leaked credentials, phishing domains, impersonation attacks, exposed sensitive information, and brand abuse. DRP enables proactive detection and remediation of external threats before they impact the business.

Attack Surface Management

Attack Surface Management (ASM) is the continuous discovery, inventory, and monitoring of all internet-facing assets that could be exploited by attackers. ASM identifies known and unknown assets, misconfigurations, exposed services, forgotten systems, and vulnerabilities across cloud, on-premises, subsidiaries, and third-party environments. It helps organizations reduce their external attack surface by eliminating unnecessary exposure.

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM)

Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) is a proactive cybersecurity approach that continuously identifies, validates, prioritizes, and remediates security exposures based on actual business risk. Rather than focusing only on vulnerabilities, CTEM evaluates how attackers could exploit weaknesses by combining attack surface visibility, threat intelligence, validation techniques, and risk prioritization to improve an organization's overall security posture.

Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability Management is the ongoing process of discovering, assessing, prioritizing, and remediating security weaknesses across an organization's IT assets. It involves continuous vulnerability scanning, risk assessment, patch management, configuration reviews, and verification to reduce the likelihood of exploitation. Effective vulnerability management helps organizations maintain a secure and compliant environment while minimizing cyber risk.

Security Awareness Training

Security Awareness Training educates employees about cybersecurity risks, safe online behavior, and organizational security policies. Regular training helps users recognize phishing emails, social engineering attacks, password risks, insider threats, and data handling requirements. Combined with phishing simulations and continuous education, awareness training significantly reduces the likelihood of human error leading to security incidents.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a security solution that protects, controls, and monitors privileged accounts used by administrators, service accounts, and critical systems. PAM securely stores privileged credentials, enforces least-privilege access, records administrative sessions, rotates passwords automatically, and provides approval workflows to reduce the risk of credential theft, insider threats, and unauthorized administrative access.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enhances account security by requiring users to verify their identity using two or more authentication factors, such as a password, mobile authenticator app, hardware token, biometric verification, or one-time password (OTP). Even if a password is compromised, MFA significantly reduces the likelihood of unauthorized access by adding additional layers of identity verification.

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) continuously monitors cloud infrastructure for security misconfigurations, policy violations, and compliance gaps across public cloud platforms. CSPM automatically identifies issues such as publicly exposed storage, excessive permissions, insecure network configurations, and missing encryption, helping organizations maintain secure cloud environments while supporting regulatory compliance and governance.

SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)

SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) focuses on securing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications by continuously monitoring their security configurations, user permissions, integrations, and compliance settings. SSPM identifies risky configurations, excessive privileges, third-party application risks, and policy violations across SaaS platforms such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, and ServiceNow, helping organizations reduce SaaS-related security risks and maintain strong security hygiene.

Want to know which of these you actually need?

That's what the assessment is for — most organizations need three or four of these well-implemented, not all nineteen.