The FREE Cybersecurity Glossary by Thor Pedersen!

Banner: A message displayed on a computer screen or network device that identifies the system and provides information about the system's capabilities and limitations. It is commonly used to provide a warning or disclaimer to users before they access a system or network. Examples include the login banner on a server or the banner displayed by a firewall before allowing access to a network.

Banner Grabbing: A technique used to gather information about computer systems on a network by sending requests and analyzing the responses (the banners) that contain details about the services running on the system. It is often an initial step in network reconnaissance for both legitimate purposes, such as network inventory, and malicious intents, like vulnerability assessment for exploitation.

Bar code: A series of parallel lines or bars of varying widths that represent data in a machine-readable format. It is commonly used to identify and track products, documents, or other objects in a variety of industries, including retail, healthcare, and logistics. Examples include the barcodes found on retail products, patient identification wristbands in hospitals, and shipping labels for packages.

Baseband: The original frequency range of a signal before it is modulated for transmission. In data communication, baseband transmission allows digital signals to be sent directly over the medium without modulation into higher frequency ranges. This type of transmission is common in wired local area networks, where the entire bandwidth of the cable is used for a single signal or multiple signals in a time-division multiplexing manner.

Base Case: The simplest instance or the starting point in a series of scenarios, typically used as a benchmark in the context of scenario analysis or problem-solving. For instance, in testing a new security feature, the base case could represent the system's behavior without the new feature being implemented. By examining the base case, one can understand how deviations from this base scenario (like introducing new features or changes) affect the system's performance or security.

Baseline: A reference point or standard against which the performance or status of a system or process can be measured. It is commonly used in project management, quality control, and performance monitoring to establish a baseline for comparison and to identify deviations or improvements. Examples of baselines in IT include the baseline configuration of a server or network device, the baseline performance of a system or application, and the baseline security posture of an organization.