The FREE Cybersecurity Glossary by Thor Pedersen!

Confidentiality: A fundamental principle of information security that mandates restricting access to information to authorized users only. It's about ensuring that sensitive information is not disclosed to unauthorized individuals or entities. Confidentiality measures include the use of passwords, encryption, access control lists, and security policies that define who can access what data and under which circumstances. It is the C of the CIA triad.

Configurable control: A feature or setting within a system or application that can be adjusted to enhance control over the operating environment. This can include anything from user permissions to data access controls, all aimed at managing risk and safeguarding the system or data within it.

Configuration control: A practice aimed at maintaining consistency of a system or component's performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. It involves processes such as identifying configurations, controlling changes, and ensuring that configurations conform to applicable standards and requirements, thus helping avoid unnecessary modifications and maintaining system reliability.

Configuration item (CI): A component of a system that is subject to configuration management. This could be a piece of hardware, a software module, a network configuration, or any other part of a system that requires monitoring and management for changes. CIs are individually identifiable and manageable, and their status is maintained and updated throughout their lifecycle.

Configuration Management: A systems engineering process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a product's performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. This process helps identify and manage changes to the system in a controlled manner, ensuring system integrity over time.

Configuration Management Database (CMDB): A database that holds information about the components of an information system and the relationships between those components. Used in IT service management, a CMDB helps organizations understand the relationships between these components and track their configuration. It is a fundamental part of the ITIL framework for managing IT services.