Plain English
Every abbreviation on this site, defined once.
Industrial security is thick with acronyms. This page exists so nobody has to guess.
| Term | Full meaning |
|---|---|
| AI | Artificial Intelligence |
| API | Application Programming Interface |
| CISA | Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency |
| CEF | Common Event Format, a SIEM log standard |
| CVE | Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures |
| DCS | Distributed Control System |
| DMZ | Demilitarized Zone, a network security boundary |
| DNP3 | Distributed Network Protocol 3, a power grid SCADA protocol |
| DP | Differential Privacy |
| Ed25519 | Edwards-curve Digital Signature Algorithm (256-bit) |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning |
| FL | Federated Learning |
| FedAvg | Federated Averaging, an aggregation algorithm |
| HA | High Availability |
| HMI | Human-Machine Interface |
| HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol |
| HTTPS | HTTP Secure, TLS-encrypted HTTP |
| ICS | Industrial Control Systems |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission |
| IT | Information Technology |
| JSONL | JSON Lines, one JSON object per line |
| KEV | Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, a CISA catalog |
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator |
| L3.5 | Purdue Model Level 3.5, the security DMZ between OT and IT |
| MES | Manufacturing Execution System |
| MITRE | MITRE Corporation, a cybersecurity research organization |
| ML | Machine Learning |
| mTLS | Mutual Transport Layer Security |
| NERC CIP | North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection |
| NIST | National Institute of Standards and Technology |
| ONNX | Open Neural Network Exchange |
| OT | Operational Technology, industrial control networks |
| OTEL | OpenTelemetry, a distributed tracing standard |
| PAM | Privileged Access Management |
| PLC | Programmable Logic Controller |
| PQC | Post-Quantum Cryptography |
| RBAC | Role-Based Access Control |
| ROI | Return on Investment |
| RTU | Remote Terminal Unit |
| SAP | SAP SE, an enterprise software vendor |
| SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition |
| SIEM | Security Information and Event Management |
| SOC | Security Operations Centre |
| SSDF | Secure Software Development Framework |
| SSE | Server-Sent Events |
| TAXII | Trusted Automated eXchange of Intelligence Information |
| TLS | Transport Layer Security |
| TPM | Trusted Platform Module |
| TXID | Transaction ID |
| WAF | Web Application Firewall |