- Whaling A type of social engineering attack that targets high-level executives or other important individuals within an organization. It is used to gain access to sensitive information or to manipulate decisions within the organization. Examples include spear phishing, pretexting, and baiting.
- Whistleblowing The act of reporting illegal or unethical behavior within an organization. It is often used in the field of IT security to report issues such as cyber-attacks, data breaches, or unauthorized access to sensitive information. Examples of whistleblowing in IT security might include reporting a colleague who has accessed company data without permission or alerting management to a cyber-attack that has occurred.
- White box In a white box context, all internal structures, designs, and implementations are fully visible and accessible. This term is often used in reference to types of testing where complete knowledge of the system is available. For instance, white box testing involves thorough testing of software components based on the understanding of the underlying code, algorithms, and system architecture. This allows testers to craft specific test cases to cover all paths and scenarios within the system.
- White box testing Also referred to as crystal-box testing or clear-box testing, is a method of software testing where the tester has full visibility of the internal workings of the software, including the code structure, algorithms, and logic. The tests are based on coverage of code statements, branches, paths, and conditions and are used to ensure that all the pathways through the code are tested. This approach requires a deep understanding of the system's internals and is often used to validate complex logical flows and security vulnerabilities.
- Whole-instance encryption The process of encrypting an entire virtual machine or cloud instance, including all data and applications. It is used in the field of cloud computing to protect data and ensure compliance with regulations. For example, encrypting a virtual machine running on a public cloud platform or encrypting a database in a cloud environment.
- Wide Area Network (WAN) A telecommunications network that extends over a large geographical distance, connecting multiple smaller networks, such as local area networks (LANs). WANs are used for transmitting data between different locations, cities, or even countries, often relying on leased lines or satellite links.
- Wide Area Network (WAN) switch A network switch designed to route data across large geographic areas in a WAN, which may include multiple local area networks (LANs). WAN switches manage and optimize traffic across corporate and telecom networks, facilitating efficient and reliable long-distance communication.
- Wi-Fi A wireless networking technology that allows devices to connect to the internet without the use of physical cables. It is commonly used in homes, offices, and public spaces to provide internet access to devices such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Examples include home Wi-Fi networks and public Wi-Fi hotspots.
- Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) A security protocol and a current industry standard that is used to safeguard wireless networks. It improves upon its predecessor, WPA, by introducing a more secure encryption method known as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and a robust integrity check known as CCMP (Counter Cipher Mode with Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol). These features ensure that network traffic is secure from unauthorized access, interception, and tampering.
- Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) A security protocol designed to secure wireless (Wi-Fi) networks. Introduced as an improvement over the previous Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), WPA provides robust security through encryption and user authentication. WPA2 and WPA3, the later versions of this protocol, utilize Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) technology and offer improved security features to protect network traffic from eavesdropping and other forms of attacks.
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