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Computer and Information Systems Glossary

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Computer/System Terms - E

  • economy interconnection (EI) - (power connector)

  • EDGE - (Microsoft's web browser introduced in 2015.)

  • Edge computing - (A new term or type of computer operations dealing with aspects of a distributed computing structure in which information processing is located close to the "edge," the place where things and people produce or consume that information. Although it is associated with the increase in the use of cloud services, it is also related to the development of miniaturized computing capabilities, such as microcontrollers used in industrial control systems and microprocessors. Such devices have the capability to, not only collect and store data, but also to make decisions independently of a central system, based on the data collected. They include devices such as remote control units (RTUs), Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), and Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) used in industrial systems to IoT (Internet of Things) implanted devices used for medical monitoring of patient heartrate, and devices used in household appliances, such as refrigerators.)

  • eight to fourteen modulation (EFM) -

  • Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) - (Web service offered by Amazon that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud.)

  • Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator (ENIAC) - (first large-scale computer)

  • electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) -

  • ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC) -

  • electromagnetic interference (EMI) -

  • electronic access control (EAC) - (A generic term used to describe proximity authentication devices, such as proximity readers, programmable locks, or biometric systems, which identify and authenticate users before allowing them entrance into physically controlled areas.)

  • Electronic Code Book mode (ECB) - (Encryption method which involves entering a block of data into an algorithm using a key, which produces a block of ciphertext.)

  • electronic commerce (EC) (or E-commerce) - (The buying and selling of goods and services online through a Web site to consumers, with payment by credit card or direct debit from a checking account - a business to consumer (B2C) model. Can also involve a business to business (B2B) model, where businesses use online systems to provide services and conduct transactions with other businesses, such as integrated supply-chain purchases and deliveries or automated inventory fulfillment.)

  • Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) - (Federal law, passed in 1986, governing the use, disclosure, and interception of stored electronic communications. It amended the Wiretap Act of 1968, which restricted the wiretapping of telephone communications, and was itself amended by the U.S.A. Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) in 2001.)

  • electronic data interchange (EDI) - (The transfer of information between organizations in machine-readable form in order to carry out business transactions.)

  • Electronic Data Processing (EDP) - (Computer-based method of processing data in an electronic form, which can involve recording or entering data into a system, editing, retrieval, transmittal, or the reporting of data.)

  • Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) - (legal proceedings)

  • Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) -

  • electronic mail (e-mail) -

  • Electronic Risk Assessment (e-RA) - (On-line program tool for determining the e-authentication assurance level requirements for federal agencies by providing step-by-step data entry forms for gathering and evaluating information.)

  • Electronic Serial Number (ESN) -

  • Electronically Stored Information (ESI) - (Information or data stored electronically (on a computer storage system), including e-mails, word processing documents, spreadsheets, web pages, or in computer files.)

  • electrophotographic (EP) - (printing process)

  • Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) -

  • Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) - (An asymmetric method of cryptography based on problems involving the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields.)

  • elliptic curve cryptosystem (ECC) - (Type of encryption system which provides digital signature functionality, secure key distribution, and encryption functionality based on calculations using elliptic curve mathematics, and considered a more efficient system.)

  • Elliptical Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) - (A use of the elliptical curve algorithm to create the hash value (check verification figure) incorporated in digital signatures. The elliptical curve algorithm is an asymmetric method of cryptography based on problems involving the algebraic structure of elliptic curves over finite fields.)

  • emergency operations center (EOC) - (A physical location where people come together, such as a natural disaster or civil unrest, where the coordination of information and resources for continuing operations and recovery takes place.)

  • emergency shutdown devices (ESDs) - (Early industrial process safety systems used through the 1960s - 1970s comprised of electromechanical relay circuits capable of detecting changes in pressure, temperature, or vibration, and with the capability of shutting down a system or activating pumps, motors or valves to counter unsafe conditions.)

  • emerging threats (ET) - (New methods of attack, the development of advanced technologies capable of carrying out previously difficult attacks, or the entry of new groups of attackers with advanced skills and technology who pose greater challenges for defenders. )

  • Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) - (file format)

  • Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) - (An Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) protocol which encrypts all or part of a data packet prior to transmission.)

  • encrypt-decrypt-encrypt (EDE) - (Encryption process used in Triple DES (Data Encryption Standard) (3DES) which involves the use of 3 separate keys and repeats the encryption process (re-encrypting the output) for a total of 3 distinct times (3 rounds).)

  • Encrypting File System (EFS) -

  • end of chain (EOC) - (character)

  • End User License Agreement (EULA) -

  • Endorsement Key (EK) -

  • End Point Control (EPC) - (Security controls and management procedures designed to secure endpoint devices or minimize the attack surface (limit the number of endpoint devices) created by endpoint devices. Endpoints include any end-of-network connection that does not pass on information to another device, or does not serve as a "passthrough" device for information on its way to a final destination. Any computer hardware device that can be connected to the Internet or a local area network can be referred to as an endpoint device. Endpoint devices include desktop computers, user workstations, laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, printers, and IP cameras.)

  • Endpoint Data Leak Prevention (EDLP) - (Data protection policy to prevent unauthorized external parties from gaining access to sensitive data, implemented through software running on each protected endpoint. Applies to data at rest (stored) and data in use.)

  • endpoint detection and response (EDR) - (A category of endpoint (end-user computing devices, such as laptops, desktops, and mobile devices) security solutions designed to detect anomolous or unusual activity on endpoints and provide alerts for analysis.)

  • endpoint protection (EPP) - (Software, software configurations, or other measures designed to protect endpoints, or to prevent system access through endpoint vulnerabilities. Endpoints provide access to the Internet and include servers, desktop computers, laptops, network infrastructure devices, or any device which is not simply passing information on to a final destination.)

  • Enhanced Capabilities Port (ECP) - (High-speed parallel port intended to support an inexpensive attachment to a high-performance printer or scanner.)

  • Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (Global System for Mobiles/Mobile Communications) (EDGE) - (Cell phone network technology designed to deliver media, such as television, over a cellular network. Considered by some to be an intermediate level technology between 2G and 3G.)

  • Enhanced Disk Drive (EDD) - (Method or methods of increasing drive capacity beyond 528 MB, which had proved to be a barrier, starting in 1994, when it became possible to to create drives larger than 528 MB.)

  • Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) -

  • Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) -

  • Enhanced Performance Architecture (EPA) - (communications)

  • Enhanced Small Device Interface (ESDI) -

  • Enterprise Architecture (EA) - (A model or description framework of a business, which focuses more on the information needs and providers of information at different levels, and less on the structural business organization chart, or simple listing of divisions and departments, business units, and department heads. While EA normally starts with the business unit activities and processes, it also includes the information architecture (information used and how it moves), the information system architecture (how informatio (n i)s captured and provided), data architecture (how information is stored and accessed), and delivery systems architecture (hardware, software, and communications networks).)

  • Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) - (The policies and governance approach an enterprise takes in dealing with mobile devices, employee use of mobile devices in the work environment, and seurity concerns related to mobile devices and mobile technology.)

  • Enterprise Rights Management (ERM) - (Security control measure that provides controls over accessing system data by users. ERM is typically used as an employee security measure that can control or limit actions that can be performed on files, such as copy and paste operations, taking screen shots, printing or other actions that might change data or involve unauthorized use.)

  • Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) - (The overall management of risk for an organization - includes all areas of risk, not merely those concerned with technology.)

  • Enterprise security risk management (ESRM) - (The process of identifying and assessing enterprise security risk, reducing it to an accepable level, and ensuring that it remains at that level.)

  • Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) -

  • entry-level power supply (EPS) -

  • environmental audio extensions (EAX) - (3D audio effects standard for integrated audio and sound cards.)

  • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - (Federal agency with oversight of environmental activities.)

  • equal error rate (EER) -

  • erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) -

  • error-correcting/correction code (ECC) - (A method of encoding data that allows small errors to be corrected. Normally involves a number calculated via a complex polynomial that can detect and possibly even correct errors in the data being read.)

  • error-correcting code random access memory (ECC RAM) - (Random-access memory (RAM) that uses an error-correcting code to recover automaticallyy from single errors in data storage, and to detect and report more serious errors.)

  • Ethernet - (Type of Local Area Network (LAN) involving a set of technologies that enable locally-connected devices to communicate. (CISSP, 7th, p. 531) (Neetwork +, p. 114) Originated in 1972 as a technology to allow computers to connect with laser printers, but has expanded to interconnect such devices as computers, printers, wireless access points, servers, switches, routers, and video game systems.)

  • European Community (EC) - (Economic alliance formed in 1957, with the Treaty of Rome, between Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands to promote trade and cooperation among its members - at the time it was known as the European Economic Community (EEC), then later renamed the European Community after the 1993 Maastricht Treaty - forerunner of the European Union.)

  • European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) - (An agency of the European Union (EU) that focuses on cybersecurity issues.)

  • European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) -

  • European Union (EU) -

  • Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) - (A component of an evaluation method used in security systems development, which assigns testing levels to various stages of development, with each stage requiring passage of a more rigorous and different type of testing before qualifying for the next level.)

  • events per second (EPS) - (System attacks or probes, or unusual changes in system activity recorded in terms of occurrences per second.)

  • Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) - (wireless broadband)

  • Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF) -

  • Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) -

  • exposure factor (EF) - (The harm or amount of loss that might be experienced by an asset during a risk event - the risk an asset is exposed to - written as a percentage or probability. For example, the partial (20 percent) damage or total loss (100 percent) of a vehicle in a car accideent.)

  • exposure value (EV) - (photography)

  • Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code (EBCDIC) - (The numeric representation of characters used by IBM on its mainframe computers.)

  • extended data out (EDO) - (A type of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) that holds its output on the bus until the beginning of the next bus cycle.)

  • extended data out dynamic random access memory (EDO DRAM) -

  • extended data out random access memory (EDO RAM) -

  • Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) - (buses)

  • Extended Integrated Device Electronics (EIDE) - (disk drives)

  • Extended Validation (EV) - (digital)

  • Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) - (A framework or description of authentication methods available to users attempting to access a system remotely, which extends, or adds to, the types of authentication methods possible beyond the two standards - Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) and Challenge Hanshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) - to include methods such as one-time passwords, token cards, biometrics, and digital certificates.)

  • Extensible Authentication Protocol - Flexible Authentication via Secure Tunneling (EAP-FAST) - (A Cisco-proprietary system connection using tunneling - an encrypted link between two systems - which is one of the extended authentication methods available within the EAP framework.)

  • Extensible Authentication Protocol - Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) - (An EAP method of authentication which relies on digital certificates - digital (electronic) files containing identifying details, such as the individual's identity, the certificate's purpose, and the issuing authority.)

  • Extensible Authentication Protocol-Tunneled Transport Layer Security (EAP-TTLS) - (An EAP protocol which uses digital certificates for authentication, but which issues certificates to the authentication server rather than to each individual user.)

  • Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) -

  • Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) -

  • Extension Mechanisms for DNS (Domain Name System) (EDNS) - (A variant of the Domain Name System (DNS) which expands the number of DNS flags without changing the original flags, so that it is compatible with the old DNS system.)

  • exterior gateway protocols (EGPs) - (outdated)

  • external Serial Advanced Techology Attachment (eSATA) -

  • external Serial Advanced Technology Attachment Universal Serial Bus Hybrid Port (EUHP) -

  • extra-high density disk drive (ED) - (3 1/2-inch floppy drive format introduced in 1989, although not generally accepted due to high cost and the introduction of writable CDs.)