Glossary
Term Description
Baseline
A set of critical observations or data used for a comparison or control. Note: Examples include a baseline security policy, a baseline set of security requirements, and a baseline system. The minimum level of security that every system throughout the organization must meet. A baseline can be more than a security baseline. It can also be a performance baseline (used by behavior-based IDSs) or a configuration baseline (used for configuration management).
Basic Rate Interface (BRI)
An ISDN service type that provides two B, or data, channels and one D, or management, channel. Each B channel offers 64 Kbps, and the D channel offers 16 Kbps. Supports a total signaling rate of 144 kbps, which is divided into two B or bearer channels running at 64 kbps, and a D or data channel runing at 16 kbps. The bearer channels carry the actual voice, video, or data information, and the D channel is used for signaling.
Benign environment
A nonhostile environment that can be protected from external hostile elements by physical, personnel, and procedural security countermeasures. Nonhostile environment that may be protected from external hostile elements by physical, personnel, and procedural security countermeasures.
Biometrics
A security technique that verifies an individual’s identity by analyzing a unique physical attribute, such as a handprint. Automated methods of authenticating or verifying an individual based upon a physical or behavioral characteristic. The use of human physiological or behavioral characteristics as authentication factors for logical access and identification for physical access.
Bit
A binary value represented by an electronic component that has a value of 0 or 1. Builtin test.
Block Cipher
A cipher that applies the encryption algorithm to an entire message block at the same time. Transposition ciphers are examples of block ciphers. A method of encrypting text to produce ciphertext in which a cryptographic key and algorithm are applied to a block of data as a group instead of one bit at a time.
Bridge
A device that connects two or more physical networks and forwards packets between them. Bridges can usually be made to filter packets, that is, to forward only certain traffic. A network device used to connect networks with different speeds, cable types, or topologies that still use the same protocol. A bridge is a layer 2 device.
Broadband
A communication medium that supports multiple communication signals simultaneously. Characteristic of any network that multiplexes multiple, independent network carriers onto a single cable. Broadband technology allows several networks to coexist on one single cable; traffic from one network does not interfere with traffic from another because the conversations happen on different frequencies in the “ether,” rather like the commercial radio system.
Broadcast
A communications transmission to multiple but unidentified recipients. A packet delivery system where a copy of a given packet is given to all hosts attached to the network. Example: Ethernet.
Brouter
A concatenation of “bridge” and “router. ” Used to refer to devices that perform both bridging and routing. A network device that first attempts to route and then defaults to bridging if routing fails.