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WGU D315: NETWORK SECURITY CONCEPTS 2025–2026:
MOST COMMON TERMS AND DEFINITIONS (HARVARD
STYLE) (HARVARD STYLE)
INCLUDES CRITICAL TERMS FOR NETWORK SECURITY EXAMS AND TRAINING, SUCH AS SWITCHES,
ROUTERS, FIREWALLS, COMPROMISED DEVICES, WIRELESS VULNERABILITIES, HARDENING
PRACTICES, DEFAULT PASSWORDS, AND UNUSED LOGINS
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Network devices - CORRECT ANSWER -Switches, routers, and firewalls with access to data

Compromised device - CORRECT ANSWER-Device accessed by a malicious user or attacker

Wireless networks - CORRECT ANSWER -Networks vulnerable to attackers in close proximity

Hardening - CORRECT ANSWER -Process of securing and testing network devices

Default passwords - CORRECT ANSWER -Factory-set passwords that should be changed

Unnecessary logins - CORRECT ANSWER -Accounts not used by the network administrator

Strong password policy - CORRECT ANSWER -Requiring complex passwords and regular changes

Unnecessary services - CORRECT ANSWER -Optional features that increase the risk of attack

Patching - CORRECT ANSWER -Installing security updates to fix vulnerabilities

Physical access - CORRECT ANSWER -Ability to physically interact with a device

Trusted network - CORRECT ANSWER -Network authorized to make changes to a device

Wireless network encryption - CORRECT ANSWER -Configuring WPA2 or WPA3 for secure traffic

Audit logs - CORRECT ANSWER -Records of device activity for analysis and detection

Backup - CORRECT ANSWER -Creating copies of device configurations for restoration

Authentication - CORRECT ANSWER -Process of confirming a person's identity

Microsoft Active Directory - CORRECT ANSWER -Authentication system that confirms user
identity via passwords

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) - CORRECT ANSWER -Authentication system that uses certificates
to validate website identity

Authorization - CORRECT ANSWER -Determines what a user may access after authentication

Restrictive Permissions - CORRECT ANSWER -Applying limited access to data and securing
servers and network devices

Data Leaks - CORRECT ANSWER-Risk of unauthorized access to confidential data

Malware Infection - CORRECT ANSWER -Accidental infection of network data files by a user's
infected computer

AAA Interaction - CORRECT ANSWER -Client communication with a radius server via the cloud

Accounting - CORRECT ANSWER -Process of verifying access control settings and providing a
forensic trail

Immutable Logs - CORRECT ANSWER -Audit logs stored in an unchangeable form to prevent
tampering

MFA - CORRECT ANSWER -Multi-factor authentication, an optional add-on to the authentication
process

2FA - CORRECT ANSWER -Another term for multi-factor authentication

PIN - CORRECT ANSWER -Personal Identification Number used as part of multi-factor
authentication

Biometric Scan - CORRECT ANSWER -Facial, retinal, or fingerprint scan used for multi-factor
authentication

Touch ID - CORRECT ANSWER -Fingerprint scan used for authentication on Apple devices

Face ID - CORRECT ANSWER -Facial recognition scan used for authentication on Apple devices

Proximity-based Security - CORRECT ANSWER -Automatic unlocking of devices when in close
range

Windows Hello - CORRECT ANSWER -Mechanism on Microsoft Windows computers using
fingerprint or facial recognition

Wireless network attacks - CORRECT ANSWER -Attacks on wireless networks that can be done
remotely

Denial of Service (DoS) attack - CORRECT ANSWER -An attack that enables unauthorized access
and traffic monitoring of a wireless network

Deauth attack - CORRECT ANSWER -A denial-of-service (DoS) attack where the attacker can
force clients off a network

WPA3 security - CORRECT ANSWER -A security protocol that encrypts management packets in a
wireless network

WPA2 security - CORRECT ANSWER -A security protocol that encrypts data traffic in a wireless
network

Fake Access attack - CORRECT ANSWER -An attack where an attacker sets up an illegitimate
wireless network to intercept data

VPN tunnel - CORRECT ANSWER -A secure connection that encrypts all traffic sent and received
over a wireless network

802
...
11-2016 - CORRECT ANSWER -Standard for wireless network communication

Forward secrecy - CORRECT ANSWER -PFS, method that ensures compromised keys only affect
one session

Perfect forward secrecy - CORRECT ANSWER -PFS, method that ensures compromised keys only
affect one session

Encryption session - CORRECT ANSWER -Period of time during which data is encrypted

Management frames - CORRECT ANSWER -Network control messages exchanged between
devices

Deauth Attack - CORRECT ANSWER -Exploit that de-associates a device from a Wi-Fi network

Interoperability - CORRECT ANSWER -Ability of different systems to work together

Wireless devices - CORRECT ANSWER -Devices that connect to a wireless network

Routers - CORRECT ANSWER -Devices that connect multiple networks together

Authentication - CORRECT ANSWER -Proving your identity to access cloud resources

Authorization - CORRECT ANSWER -Controlling access to specific cloud resources

IAM - CORRECT ANSWER-Identity and Access Management system for controlling access to
cloud resources

Multifactor Authentication (MFA) - CORRECT ANSWER -Using multiple methods to verify
identity, such as username/password and token/device

Token - CORRECT ANSWER -A device or application that generates a special numeric PIN for
authentication

Service Account - CORRECT ANSWER -An account used by applications to access cloud
resources, authenticated with API keys

API Key - CORRECT ANSWER -A special string of characters used to authenticate service
accounts

Audit Logs - CORRECT ANSWER -Detailed records of actions taken within a cloud system for
accountability and security monitoring

Private Cloud - CORRECT ANSWER -Scalable, single-tenant cluster of computing, storage, and
networking resources owned and maintained by a single company

Public Cloud - CORRECT ANSWER -Hosted by companies like AWS, Azure, and GCP, offering
scalable, multi-tenant solutions in data centers

Hybrid Cloud - CORRECT ANSWER -Combination of services running in both public and private
clouds

Federated identity management - CORRECT ANSWER -Authentication service using identity
servers at Google, Facebook, etc
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Traceroute is useful for determining router or subnet connectivity problems
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tracepath - CORRECT ANSWER -is similar to traceroute or tracert in that it displays the path
taken by a packet from its source to its destination
...
It is primarily used in Linux
...


ifconfig - CORRECT ANSWER -A command-line tool used on Linux systems to show and
manipulate settings on a network interface card (NIC)
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ARP - CORRECT ANSWER -Address Resolution Protocol
...
ARP poisoning attacks can redirect traffic through an attacker's system by sending false
MAC address updates
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netstat - CORRECT ANSWER -A TCP/IP troubleshooting utility that displays statistics and the
state of current TCP/IP connections
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nslookup - CORRECT ANSWER -Nslookup (name server lookup) displays information for
displaying DNS information and troubleshooting DNS problems
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dig - CORRECT ANSWER -Dig (domain information groper) is a command used to query the DNS
name servers
...
It is also used for lookups and will
display answers from the query
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whois - CORRECT ANSWER -an internet utility program that obtains information about a domain
name or IP number from the database of a domain name registry

route - CORRECT ANSWER -Route can be used to display the current route tables on a host
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This is used by the local host to de termine where to
send traffic (0
...
0
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SCP (Secure Copy Protocol) - CORRECT ANSWER -A protocol that uses SSH to securely copy files
between a local and a remote host, or between two remote hosts
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The data is unencrypted
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Transfer uses TCP
(transmission control protocol) for reliability and is often used on the internet and other wide -area
networks, where errors may be more common
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finger - CORRECT ANSWER -Finger displays information about a user or users on a remote
system, including things such as last log-in time and username
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nmap - CORRECT ANSWER -Nmap (Network Mapper) scans networks to see what it can find in
terms of hosts and open ports (including well-known ones for many applications)
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Nmap is not native to either Linux or Windows but can be downloaded for free and
used with both
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It is a form of protocol analyzer (sometimes
called a sniffer) and is designed to show the contents of network packets in human -readable form
for troubleshooting, security analysis, etc
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telnet/ssh - CORRECT ANSWER -Telnet and SSH (secure shell) allow a user to manage accounts
and devices remotely
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