Department of Information Technology State of North Carolina S TATEWIDE G LOSSARY OF I NFORMATION T E C H N O L O G Y T ERMS May 2020 G L O S S A R Y O F INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TERMS Table of Contents PURPOSE .............................................................................................................................. 3 SCOPE ................................................................................................................................... 3 GLOSSARY OF TERMS ........................................................................................................ 3 General ..................................................................................................................................... 3 A ................................................................................................................................................ 3 B .............................................................................................................................................. 11 C .............................................................................................................................................. 15 D .............................................................................................................................................. 26 E .............................................................................................................................................. 32 F .............................................................................................................................................. 37 G ............................................................................................................................................. 41 H ............................................................................................................................................. 42 I ............................................................................................................................................... 44 J ............................................................................................................................................... 51 K ............................................................................................................................................. 51 L .............................................................................................................................................. 52 M ............................................................................................................................................. 53 N .............................................................................................................................................. 58 O ............................................................................................................................................. 60 P .............................................................................................................................................. 63 Q ............................................................................................................................................. 72 R .............................................................................................................................................. 72 S .............................................................................................................................................. 77 T .............................................................................................................................................. 85 U .............................................................................................................................................. 90 V .............................................................................................................................................. 91 W ............................................................................................................................................. 93 X .............................................................................................................................................. 95 Y .............................................................................................................................................. 95 Z .............................................................................................................................................. 95 2 G L O S S A R Y O F INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TERMS PURPOSE The purpose of this Glossary of Terms is to provide a central repository of terms that apply to documentation created and maintained by the North Carolina Office of the State Chief Information Officer (State CIO). SCOPE This document covers all State information technology areas that fall under the responsibility of the State CIO. The definitions apply to statewide information technology policies, standards and the statewide architecture for all government agencies of the State of North Carolina. HISTORY This glossary was first published in 2005. It has been updated as terms were added or changed to the information technology and security lexicon. This edition of the Glossary was updated and published in May 2020. GLOSSARY OF TERMS GENERAL 3- Way Handshake – Machine A sends a packet with a SYN flag set to Machine B. B acknowledges A’s SYN with a SYN/ACK. A acknowledges B’s SYN/ACK with an ACK. A AAM – After Action Meeting AAR – After Action Report ACL – Access Control List ACWP – Actual Cost of Work Perform AES – Advanced Encryption Standard AP – Access point APT – Advanced Persistent Threat ARP – Address Resolution Protocol 3 G L O S S A R Y O F INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TERMS Abstraction – A representation of an entity that contains less information than the entity. Acceptance – Final approval and receipt of a product or service by the customer. Acceptance Criteria – The list of requirements that must be satisfied prior to the customer accepting delivery of the product. Acceptance Management – The process used throughout the project to obtain approval for products or services. Acceptance Test – Formal user testing performed prior to accepting the system (sometimes called client acceptance test or user acceptance test). Access – Instruct, communicate with, cause input, cause output, cause data processing or otherwise make use of any resources of a computer, information system or information network. Access Control – A feature or technique used to permit or deny use of the components of a system, including hardware, software and/or procedures that restrict access to devices and services. Access Control List (ACL) – A mechanism that implements access control for a system resource by listing the identities of the system entities that are permitted to access the resource. Access Point (AP) – A device that connects to a wired network and sends and receives radio signals enabling wireless access to a telecommunication network by wireless devices. Accessibility – Access to information for people with disabilities comparable to that accorded people without disabilities. Accountability – The property that enables activities on a system to be traced to an individual. Accuracy – A quantitative measure of the magnitude of error, preferably expressed as a function of the relative error, a high value of this measure corresponding to a small error. Acquisition – Generic term for hardware, software, or services acquired from an outside vendor or contractor. Action Plan – A plan that describes what needs to be done and when it needs to be completed. Project plans are action plans. Activation – The implementation of a Continuity plan, whether in whole or in part. Activity – An element of work performed in a project. An activity has precise starting and ending dates, incorporates a set of tasks to be completed, consumes resources, and produces tangible results. Activities are often subdivided into tasks and multiple activities may compose a phase. 4 G L O S S A R Y O F INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TERMS Activity Definition – Identification of the specific activities that must be performed to produce project deliverables. Activity Description – Short phrase or label used in a network diagram to describe the scope of work for the activity. Activity Duration Estimate – Estimation of the amount of work that will be needed to complete an activity. Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) – Total costs incurred (direct and indirect) in accomplishing work during a given time period. Actual Finish Date – A point in time when work actually ended for the task or activity. Actual Start Date – The point in time that work actually began on the task or activity. Adaptive Maintenance – Software maintenance performed to make a computer program usable in a changed environment. Adaptive System – Describes software that has flexibility as the primary design point that enables the system to adapt quickly and easily to changes in technology and in interfacing with other systems. An adaptive system can be explained through a comparison of jigsaw puzzles to LEGOs: both are small “plug in” components. But a puzzle goes together in only one way and a puzzle piece from one puzzle does not fit into another puzzle. LEGO pieces can be used to build different things and are easy to change, as business needs change. Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) – Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a protocol for mapping an Internet