The FREE Cybersecurity Glossary by Thor Pedersen!

Surge suppressor: A device that protects electronic equipment from voltage spikes or surges. It is commonly used in homes and businesses to protect computers and other sensitive equipment from damage. Examples include a surge protector strip for a computer, a whole-house surge protector for a home's electrical system, and a surge protector for a commercial server room.

Suspension: The temporary disabling of access privileges or other capabilities. In a security context, a user's account might be suspended due to suspicious activity, violations of policy, or as part of a user offboarding process. Suspension is often used as a preventive measure, allowing for investigations or remediation activities to take place without further potential harm or breach of security.

SWIFT Security Control Framework: A set of mandatory and advisory security controls for SWIFT users. It provides a clear baseline for users to secure their local environments, protect the broader SWIFT community, and help prevent fraud within the financial sector. The controls are divided into three objectives - secure your environment, know and limit access, and detect and respond, which together form a comprehensive guide to financial data protection.

Switch: A networking device that connects multiple devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive, process, and forward data to the destination device. Unlike a network hub, which broadcasts the same data to all its ports, a switch delivers data only to the device for which it was intended, improving network efficiency and security. The ability to isolate traffic to specific devices makes a switch an essential component in many network infrastructures.

Switched network: A telecommunications network that uses circuit-switching, message-switching, or packet-switching technology for the purpose of transmitting data from one node to another. Instead of a continuous, dedicated path between nodes, switched networks allow the connection to be established when needed and terminated when communication ends. This creates a flexible and efficient use of resources, with each communication routed independently and given access to the full bandwidth.

Symmetric algorithm: A mathematical process used to encrypt and decrypt data. It uses the same secret key for both operations, making it fast and efficient for large amounts of data. Examples include the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and the Blowfish algorithm.