Computer/System Terms - G
Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP) - (A Cisco Systems proprietary protocol that provides first-hop router redundancy, which is the capability to detect if an active router becomes unavailable and to activate a standby router to take over transmission duties.)
General Protection Fault (GPF) - (An error that occurs in Microsoft Windows when a program tries to access a location in memory that is not allocated to it - usually is the result of programming errors.)
general purpose registers (GPRs) -
Generalized Markup Language (GML) - (Markup language developed by IBM in 1969 to communicate information about a document in metadata form, which was basically a data description of other data in the document.)
Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) - (Suborganization within ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) which reviews and develops recommendations on domain-name policy for all generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and advises the ICANN board. Examples of top-level domains are those with extensions such as .com,.net, .edu, .org, .gov, and .info.)
Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) - (Method of encapsulating Point-To-Point (PPP) packets when they are sent using the Point-To-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).)
generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) -
Geographic Positioning System (GPS) - (Alternate term for the Global Positioning System.) (A network of satellites which collects geolocation data - the measurement of the position of objects on earth. The system was originally developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for military purposes, but has expanded its services to provide location information for civilian and commercial purposes, such as mapping and navigation.)
Geographical Intelligence (GEOINT) - (Any information relating to geographical location, such as office or employee locations, or computer/system information revealing location, such as IP addresses.)
giant magneto-resistive heads (GMR) - (Type of read/write head - the component of a disk drive that uses electromagnetism to read data from a disk and to write data to a disk - introduced by IBM in 1997, which is physically smaller in size, but produces a stronger magnetic field for greater storage density of data, meaning that it can store more data on the disk.)
Gigabinarybytes (Gibibytes) (GiB) - (1,073,741,824 bytes) (A byte is the amount of memory space needed to store one character, which is normally 8 bits (binary digits).)
Gigabit Ethernet Local Area Network (GigE) - (Type of high-speed (100 Mbps) broadband Ethernet LAN connection capable of carrying voice (VoIP) and data traffic.)
gigabit interface converter (GBIC) - (Ethernet interface device with a bandwidth capacity of 1 Gbps (1 billion bits per second), used to uplink one Ethernet switch to another.)
Gigabits per second (Gbps) - (Data transmission rate of 1 billion bits per second - a bit is a binary digit, which can either be a 0 or a 1 - Gbps is normally used in the context of Ethernet connections (short-distance connections between a computer and a printer).)
gigahertz (GHz) - (one billion cycles per second)
Gigabyte (GB) - ((Approximately one billion bytes, but also used in two different contexts. When referring to computer memory, one gigabyte is 2 to the power of 30, or 1,073,741,824 bytes. When referring to disk drives, understood as 1000 megabytes. A byte is the amount of memory space needed to store one character, which is normally 8 bits (binary digits).))
Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) - (Satellite within the network of satellites which make up the Global Positioning System (GPS), which collects and analyzes geographical information about the earth's surface, and provides geolocation information.)
Global Positioning System (GPS) - (A network of satellites which collects geolocation data - the measurement of the position of objects on earth. The system was originally developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for military purposes, but has expanded its services to provide location information for civilian and commercial purposes, such as mapping and navigation.)
Global Security Exchange (GSX) - (Annual security conference sponsored by ASIS International, providing educational seminars, displays of new technology, and discussions of the latest trends, threats, and research.)
Global System for Mobile Communications (2G) (GSM) -
Global Traffic Optimizer (GTO) -
globally unique identifier (GUID) - (Identifier used for files in the Windows Office system.)
Globally Unique Identifier Partition Table (GPT) -
Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) - (A freely distributed paint program - type of program for drawing pictures on a personal computer - for UNIX and Windows.)
GNU is Not UNIX (GNU) - (A copyrighted, but freely-distributed, software. GNU began as a software project led by Richard Stallman of the Free Software Foundation whose original goal was to develop a freely-distributed substitute for UNIX.)
GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME) - (The most popular graphical desktop environment for Linux, based on the X Window system.)
Gold Master (GM) - (A system security measure involving a standard hardened "image" - an image in this context is a secure software configuration which has been tested for functionality and vulnerabilities - cloned onto the hard drives of user workstations which have been securely configured.)
Good Practice Guidelines (GPG) - (Recommendations considered the best course of action in any given situation, or advice which will produce the best results, if followed.)
Google Hacking Database (GHDB) - (Database basic listing of Google search strings, sometimes used by hackers to dig up Web information.)
governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) - (In the area of software or system acquisition, program or guidance which sets out the terms governing fulfillment and how they are to be governed, how risk is to be managed, and how compliance with outside laws or regulations is to be ensured.)
governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) - (Term used to describe an integrated approach to these three practices and their associated activities. Governance: Ensuring that strategic goals, rules, policies, and practices align with business objectives; Risk management: Managing risk to acceptable levels by analyzing risk probability and impact and prioritizing control implementation: and Compliance: Monitoring and reporting on the organization's conformity with both internal requirements (policies and procedures) and applicable external requirements (laws and regulations).)
governance, risk, and control (GRC) - (Alternative term for governance, risk, and compliance, although may be used in the context of a compliance program which emphasizes the implementation of control measures to manage risk. Governance involves ensuring that strategic goals, rules, prolicies, and practices align with business objectives. Risk (or risk management) involves managing risk by lowering risk to acceptable levels through an analysis of risk probability and impact, and prioritizing control implementation. Control involves the implementation of control measures intended to reduce identifed risks to an acceptable level.)
government access to keys (GAK) - (Situation in which software companies provide their encryption keys to the government, allowing the government to access encrypted traffic.)
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA) - (Federal banking/financial institutions legislation which increased security requirements for financial institutions, as well as rules restricting the collection and use of consumer information.)
Graphic(s) Interchange Format (GIF) - (A graphics file format developed by CompuServe for storing bitmap images on disk.)
graphics/graphical processing unit (GPU) -
Graphical Identification and Authentication (GINA) - (A method of gathering cleartext credentials at logon from Windows users, although requires administrator credentials.)
graphical/graphic user interface (GUI) - (A way of communicating/making selections with a computer by clicking on icons with a mouse, instead of entering text into a box.)
group identification (GID) - (A method of identifying computer users, groups, and accounts used by Linux systems.)
Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) - (In Windows, an administrative application utility console which allows for quick enforcement of organization policies by enabling/disabling individual services, applications, and products.)
Group Policy Objects (GPO) - (Windows)
guard interval (GI) - (The amount of time (in nanoseconds) the system waits between transmitting OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) signals in a data stream.)