N-P

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National Information Infrastructure (NII)

A general label for the composite network of data or information systems and connectivity channels that serve as the foundation for U.S. economic, political, and military operations.

Navigation warfare (NAVWAR)

A term for activities directed toward disrupting, degrading, or denying the adversary’s capabilities for geographical location, tracking, and control (navigation) based on such capabilities. This term is currently used specifically to connote those EW and IW (counter-) measures involving the Global Positioning System (GPS) network of satellites and/or terrestrial or airborne or shipborne receivers.

Netwar

A synonym for cyberwar.

Network spoofing

In network spoofing, a system presents itself to the network as though it were a different system (system A impersonates system B by sending B’s address instead of its own). The reason for doing this is that systems tend to operate within a group of other “trusted” systems. Trust is imparted in a one-to-one fashion; system A trusts system B (this does not imply that system B trusts system A). Implied with this trust is that the system administrator of the trusted system is performing his or her job properly and maintaining an appropriate level of security for his or her system. Network spoofing occurs in the following manner: if system A trusts system B and system C spoofs (impersonates) system B, then system C can gain otherwise denied access to system A.

Network worm

A worm that migrates across platforms over a network by copying itself from one system to another by exploiting common network facilities, resulting in execution of the (replicated) worm on that system and potentially others.

NII

Acronym for National Information Infrastructure.

NTFS

Windows NT file system.

Offensive counterinformation

Actions against the adversary’s information functions.

On-line training courses

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OODA loop (also O-O-D-A loop)

Observation, orientation, decision, action loop. Taken to describe a single iteration of the cycle proceeding from data acquisition, through information integration and decision making, to inaction of a response. Disruption or other damage to the OODA loop is a common way of portraying the goal and/or main effect of IW.

OOTW

Acronym for operations other than war (missions carried out by the military that lie outside the scope of what is conventionally termed “war”). Examples include humanitarian and police actions.

Open-source intelligence (OSINT)

Information of potential intelligence value that is available to the general public.

Operational intelligence

Intelligence that is required for planning and conducting campaigns and major operations to accomplish strategic objectives within theaters or areas of operations.

Operations security (OPSEC)

A process of identifying critical information and subsequently analyzing friendly actions attendant to military operations and other activities.

Opinion

A view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter or particular matters. It may also be said to be an intellectually defined judgment of what is true for the individual or group. It may be more influenced by attitudes than facts.

Orientation

An interactive process of many-sided implicit cross-referencing projections, empathies, correlations, and rejections that shapes and is shaped by the interplay of genetic heritage, cultural tradition, previous experiences, and unfolding circumstances.

OSINT

Acronym for open-source intelligence.

Packet sniffer

A device or program that monitors the data traveling between computers on a network.

packet sniffing

Packet sniffing is a technique in which attackers surreptitiously insert a software program at remote network switches or host computers. The program monitors information packets as they are sent through networks and sends a copy of the information retrieved to the hacker. By picking up the first 125 keystrokes of a connection, attackers can learn passwords and user identifications, which, in turn, they can use to break into systems.

Partition

A logical section of a disk. Each partition normally has its own file system.

Partition table

A 64-byte data structure that defines the way a PC’s hard disk is divided into logical sectors known as partitions. The partition table describes to the operating system how the hard disk is divided. Each partition on a disk has a corresponding entry in the partition table. The partition table is always stored in the first physical sector of a disk drive.

Passive attack

A form of attack in which data is released (captured or obtained) from the target system. Attack that does not result in an unauthorized state change, such as an attack that only monitors and/or records data.

Passive threat

The threat of unauthorized disclosure of information without changing the state of the system. A type of threat that involves the interception, not the alteration, of information.

Password cracking/password theft

Password cracking is a technique used to surreptitiously gain system access by using another users account. Users often select weak password. The two major sources of weakness in passwords are easily guessed passwords based on knowledge of the user (wife’s maiden name) and passwords that are susceptible to dictionary attacks (brute-force guessing of passwords using a dictionary as the source of guesses). Password cracking and theft is a technique in which attackers try to guess or steal passwords to obtain access to computer systems. Attackers have automated this technique; rather than attackers trying to guess legitimate users’ passwords, computers can very efficiently and systematically do the guessing. For example, if the password is a dictionary word, a computer can quickly look up all possibilities to find a match. Complex passwords comprised of alphanumeric characters are more difficult to crack. However, even with complex passwords, powerful computers can use brute force to compare all possible combinations of characters until a match is found.

Password sniffing

A form of sniffing that entails sampling specific portions of the data stream during a session (collecting a certain number of initial bytes where the password can be intercepted in unencrypted form on common Internet services) so as to obtain password data that can then be exploited.

Path

A location of a file. The path consists of directory or folder names, beginning with the highest-level directory or disk name and ending with the lowest-level directory name. A path can identify a drive (e.g. C:\), a folder (e.g. C:\Temp), or a file (e.g., C:\Windows \ftp.exe).

Penetration

With regard to IW: A successful attack—the ability to obtain unauthorized (undetected) access to files and programs or the control state of a computer system.

Penetration signature

The description of a situation or set of conditions in which a penetration could occur or of system events which in conjunction can indicate the occurrence of a penetration in progress.

Perception

The process of evaluating information that has been received and classified by the five physical senses (vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) and interpreted by criteria of the culture and society.

Perception management

Actions to convey and/or deny selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning; and to intelligence systems and leaders at all levels to influence official estimates, ultimately resulting in foreign behaviors and official actions favorable to the originator’s objectives. In various ways, perception management combines truth projection, operations security, cover and deception, and psychological operations.

Peripheral

Any part of a computer other than the CPU or working memory (RAM and ROM). For example, disks, keyboards, monitors, mice, printers, scanners, tape drives, microphones, speakers, and other such devices are peripherals.

Phracker

Individual who combines phone phreaking with computer hacking. Formed by a play on both phreaker and hacker.

Phreak/phone phreak

A term for hacking or cracking-type exploitation directed at the telephone system (as opposed to the data communications networks). When the intrusion or action involves both telephone and data communications networks, that portion of the intrusion activity directed toward manipulating the telephone system is typically called phreaking.

Phreaker

Individual fascinated by the telephone system. Commonly, an individual who uses his or her knowledge of the telephone system to make calls at the expense of another.

Plug-and-Play (PnP)

A hardware and software specification developed by Intel that allows a PnP system and a PnP adapter to configure automatically. PnP cards generally have no switches or jumpers, but are configured via the PnP system’s BIOS or with supplied software for non-PnP computers.

POST

Stands for power-on self test. Each time a PC initializes, the BIOS executes a series of tests collectively known as the POST. The test checks each of the primary areas of the system, including the motherboard, video system, drive system, and keyboard, and ensures that all components can be used safely. If a fault is detected, the POST reports it as an audible series of beeps or a hexadecimal code written to an I/O port.

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