F

fail-over/failover

The process of reconstructing a system or switching over to other systems when a failure is detected.

fail-over device

A device that comes online when another fails.

fail-over server

A hot site backup system in which the failover server is connected to the primary server. A heartbeat is sent from the primary server to the backup server. If the heartbeat stops, the fail-over system starts and takes over. Thus, the system doesn't go down even if the primary server is not running.

false positive

Flagged events that are not really events and have been falsely triggered.

Faraday cage

An electrically conductive wire mesh or other conductor woven into a "cage" that surrounds a room and prevents electromagnetic signals from entering or leaving a room through the walls.

fault-resistant network

A network that will be up and running at least 99 percent of the time or that is down less than 8 hours a year.

fault tolerance

The ability to withstand a fault (failure) without losing data.

fault-tolerant network

A network that can recover from minor errors.

Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)

An agreed-upon standard published under the Information Technology Management Reform Act. The standards are approved by the Secretary of Commerce after being developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for federal computer systems.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

A TCP/IP protocol and software that permit the transferring of files between computer systems. Because FTP has been implemented on numerous types of computer systems, files can be transferred between disparate computer systems (for example, a personal computer and a minicomputer). See also Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.

FIPS

See Federal Information Processing Standard.

fire suppression

The ability to stop a fire and prevent it from spreading.

firewall

A combination of hardware and software that protects a network from attack by hackers that could gain access through public networks, including the Internet.

footprinting

The process of systematically identifying the network and its security posture.

forensics

In terms of security, the act of looking at all the data at your disposal to try to figure out who gained unauthorized access, and what the extent of that access was.

frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)

A communications technology used to communicate in the 802.11 standard. FHSS accomplishes communication by hopping the transmission over a range of predefined frequencies.

FTP

See File Transfer Protocol.

FTP proxy

A server that uploads and downloads files from a server on behalf of a workstation.

full backup

A backup that copies all data to the archive medium.

full distribution

An information classification stating that the data is available to anyone.