Cybersecurity glossary

Kernel emulation simulates the core functionality of an operating system kernel. This is beneficial for analyzing rootkits and other low-level malwar…

A kernel exploit targets vulnerabilities in the operating system kernel, the core of the OS. Zero-day kernel exploits are particularly dangerous beca…

Kernel exploitation involves finding and exploiting vulnerabilities within the operating system's kernel to gain complete control over the system. Su…

Kernel exploits target vulnerabilities in the operating system kernel to gain elevated privileges or compromise the system. Both containers and VMs r…

A kernel-mode honeypot operates at the kernel level of the operating system, providing deeper insights into attacker activity. However, it is more co…

A key ceremony is a highly secure process for generating and protecting the private key of a Certificate Authority (CA). It typically involves multip…

Key compromise occurs when the private key associated with a digital certificate is exposed or stolen. This allows attackers to impersonate the certi…

A KDF is used to derive one or more secret keys from a master key or a password. This is often used to generate encryption keys for symmetric encrypt…

Key exchange is the process of securely sharing encryption keys between parties, a critical step in symmetric encryption. Secure key exchange protoco…

Key length refers to the size of the encryption key used in a symmetric encryption algorithm. Longer key lengths generally provide stronger security…

Key management involves the secure storage, distribution, and revocation of cryptographic keys. It aligns with default deny by ensuring that only aut…

A KMS securely stores and manages cryptographic keys. Contextualizing key usage with the application, user, and data being protected helps to enforce…

Key wrapping is the process of encrypting an encryption key with another key. This is often used to protect symmetric keys during storage or transmis…

Watermarking techniques that employ a secret key during the embedding and extraction processes. This adds an extra layer of security, preventing unau…

A software or hardware device that records keystrokes. Penetration testers may use keyloggers to capture sensitive information, such as passwords.

Keylogging is the act of tracking (or logging) the keys struck on a keyboard, typically in a covert manner, so that the person using the keyboard is…

Keyword matching involves searching for specific words or phrases within data to identify potentially sensitive information. While less precise than…