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Amos’s Cybersecurity Almanac: Like a dictionary, only cooler

Amos’s Cybersecurity Almanac: Like a dictionary, only cooler

Cybersecurity Amos's Almanac

Amos’s Cybersecurity Almanac: Like a dictionary, only cooler

Paul Ducklin

06/16/2026

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A splendid tradition

Before social media, before the internet, before TV, before movies and radio, people from all walks of life loved almanacks, which is how they spelled the word back then.

Following in this splendid tradition, SolCyber’s lovable mascot Amos provides regular, amusing, and easy-to-digest explanations of cybersecurity jargon and acronyms in AMOS THE ARMADILLO’S ALMANAC.

Even if you know all the terminology yourself, Amos will help you explain it to colleagues, friends, and family in an unpretentious, unintimidating way.

You can keep up with the latest Almanac entries by following @SolCyber on LinkedIn, searching for the hashtag #AmosArmadillo, or re-visiting this page.

A·B·C D·E·F G·H·I

J·K·L M·N·O P·Q·R

S·T·U V·W·X·Y·Z

Alphabetic index

A·B·C

AE (Authenticated encryption)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

APT (Advanced persistent threat)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Black Friday

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Breach fatigue

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

ClickFix attacks

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

D·E·F

Daemon

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

DDoS (Distributed denial of service)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

De-anonymization

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Degaussing

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

DNS (Domain name system)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Easter egg

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

EoP (Elevation of privilege)

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

FDE (Full-disk encryption)

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Fuzzing

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

G·H·I

GUID (Globally unique identifier)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

HTTPS

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

IAB (Initial access broker)

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

IDS (Intrusion detection system)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

J·K·L

Jailbreaking

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Kerberoasting

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Kernel

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Keylogger

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Log4Shell

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

M·N·O

MDM (Mobile device management)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

MitM (Manipulator in the middle)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

NSA (National Security Agency)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Octet

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

P·Q·R

Pirate

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Public key

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Quantum apocalypse

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Quishing

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Race condition

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

RC4 (Ron’s Code Algorithm #4)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

RCE (Remote code execution)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Responsible disclosure

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Rootkit

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Rust

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

S·T·U

SCIF (Secure compartmented information facility)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Secure boot

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

SIM farm

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

SIM swap

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Singularity, the

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Slopsquatting

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Smart device

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Sniffer

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Social engineering

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Sysadmin

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Syzygy

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Threat report

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Typosquatting

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

User agent

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

V·W·X·Y·Z

VPN (Virtual private network)

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Wiper

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Worm

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

XYZZY

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

YAML (Yet another markup language)

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Zero-click

Further reading․․․

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Zero-day

▼ Go to index – Back to top ▲

Alphabetic index

A Advanced persistent threat • AE • APT • Authenticated encryption

B Black Friday • Breach fatigue

C ClickFix attacks

D Daemon • DDoS • De-anonymization • Degaussing • Distributed denial of service • DNS • Domain name system

E Easter egg • Elevation of privilege • EoP

F FDE • Full-disk encryption • Fuzzing

G Globally unique identifier • GUID

I IAB • IDS • Initial access broker • Intrusion detection system

K Kerberoasting • Kernel • Keylogger

M Manipulator in the middle • MDM • MitM • Mobile device management

N National Security Agency • NSA

P Pirate • Public key

Q Quantum apocalypse • Quishing

R Race condition • RC4 • RCE • Remote code execution • Responsible disclosure • Ron’s Code Algorithm #4 • Rootkit • Rust

S SCIF • Secure boot • Secure compartmented information facility • SIM farm • SIM swap • Singularity, the • Slopsquatting • Smart device • Sniffer • Social engineering • Sysadmin • Syzygy

T Threat report • Typosquatting

V Virtual private network • VPN

W Wiper • Worm

Y YAML • Yet another markup language

Z Zero-click • Zero-day

Paul Ducklin

06/16/2026

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