Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) speaker
Any router running the BGP protocol.
Border router
Border router is placed at the network perimeter. It can act as a basic firewall.
Botnet
Botnet is a jargon term for a collection of software robots, or bots, which run autonomously. A botnet’s originator can control the group remotely, usually through a means such as Internet relay chat (IRC), and usually for nefarious purposes. A botnet can comprise a collection of cracked machines running programs (usually referred to as worms, Trojan horses, or backdoors) under a common command and control infrastructure. Botnets are often used to send spam e-mails, launch DoS attacks, phishing attacks, and viruses.
Bound metadata
Metadata associated with a cryptographic key and protected by the cryptographic key management system against unauthorized modification and disclosure. It uses a binding operation that links two or more data elements such that the data elements cannot be modified or replaced without being detected.
Boundary
A physical or logical perimeter of a system.
Boundary protection
Monitoring and control of communications (1) at the external boundary between information systems completely under the management and control of the organization and information systems not completely under the management and control of the organization, and (2) at key internal boundaries between information systems completely under the management and control of the organization.
Boundary protection employs managed interfaces and boundary protection devices.
Boundary protection device
A device with appropriate mechanisms that (1) facilitates the adjudication of different interconnected system security policies (e.g., controlling the flow of information into or out of an interconnected system); and/or (2) monitors and controls communications at the external boundary of an information system to prevent and detect malicious and other unauthorized communications. Boundary protection devices include such components as proxies, gateways, routers, firewalls, hardware/software guards, and encrypted tunnels.
Boundary router
A boundary router is located at the organization’s boundary to an external network. A boundary router is configured to be a packet filter firewall.
Boundary value analysis
The purpose of boundary value analysis is to detect and remove errors occurring at parameter limits or boundaries. Tests for an application program should cover the boundaries and extremes of the input classes.
Breach
The successful and repeatable defeat (circumvention) of security controls with or without detection or an arrest, which if carried to completion, could result in a penetration of the system. Examples of breaches are (1) operation of user code in master mode, (2) unauthorized acquisition of identification password or file access passwords, (3) accessing a file without using prescribed operating system mechanisms, and (4) unauthorized access to data/program library. Attack + Breach = Penetration.
Bridge
A device used to link two or more homogeneous local-area networks (LANs). A bridge does not change the contents of the frame being transmitted but acts as a relay. It is a device that connects similar LANs together to form an extended LAN. It is protocol-dependent. Bridges and switches are used to interconnect different LANs. A bridge operates in the data link layer of the ISO/OSI reference model.
Brokered trust
Describes the case where two entities do not have direct business agreements with each other, but do have agreements with one or more intermediaries so as to enable a business trust path to be constructed between the entities. The intermediary brokers operate as active entities, and are invoked dynamically via protocol facilities when new paths are to be established.
Brooke’s law
States that adding more people to a late project makes the project even more delayed.
Brouters
Routers that can also bridge, route one or more protocols, and bridge all other network traffic. Brouters = Routers + Bridges.
Browser
A client program used to interact on the World Wide Web (WWW).
Browser-based threats
Examples include (1) masquerading attacks resulting from untrusted code that was accepted and executed code that was developed elsewhere, (2) gaining unauthorized access to computational resources residing at the browser (e.g., security options) or its underlying platform (e.g., system registry), and (3) using authorized access based on the user’s identity in an unexpected and disruptive fashion (e.g., to invade privacy or deny service).
Browsing
The act of searching through storage to locate or acquire information without necessarily knowing the existence or the format of the information being sought.
Brute force attack
A form of guessing attack in which the attacker uses all possible combinations of characters from a given character set and for passwords up to a given length. A form of brute force attack is username harvesting, where applications differentiate between an invalid password and an invalid username, which allows attackers to construct a list of valid user accounts. Countermeasures against brute force attacks include strong authentication with SSL/TLS, timeouts with delays, lockouts of user accounts, password policy with certain length and mix of characters, blacklists of IP addresses and domain names, and logging of invalid password attempts.
Bucket brigade attack
A type of attack that takes advantage of the store-and-forward mechanism used by insecure networks such as the Internet. It is similar to the man-in-the middle attack.
Buffer
An area of random access memory or CPU used to temporarily store data from a disk, communication port, program, or peripheral device.
Buffer overflow attack
(1) A method of overloading a predefined amount of space in a buffer, which can potentially overwrite and corrupt data in memory. (2) It is a condition at an interface under which more input can be placed into a buffer or data holding area than the capacity allocated, overwriting other information. Attackers exploit such a condition to crash a system or to insert specially crafted code that allows them to gain control of the system.
Bus topology
A bus topology is a network topology in which all nodes (i.e., stations) are connected to a central cable (called the bus or backbone) and all stations are attached to a shared transmission medium. Note that linear bus topology is a variation of bus topology.
Business continuity plan (BCP)
The documentation of a predetermined set of instructions or procedures that describe how an organization’s business functions will be sustained during and after a significant disruption.
Business impact analysis (BIA)
An analysis of an IT system’s requirements, processes, and interdependencies used to characterize system contingency requirements and priorities in the event of a significant disruption.
Business process improvement (BPI)
It focuses on how to improve an existing process or service. BPI is also called continuous process improvement.
Business process reengineering (BPR)
It focuses on improving efficiency, reducing costs, reducing risks, and improving service to internal and external customers. Radical change is an integral part of BPR.
Business recovery/resumption plan (BRP)
The documentation of a predetermined set of instructions or procedures that describe how business processes will be restored after a significant disruption has occurred.