IT Division Glossary

Definition of terms used by WPI's Information Technology Division

Acceptable Use Policy	http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/Policies/AUP/
AUP	Acceptable Use Policy
Business Continuity Institute (BCI)	The BCI promotes the highest standards of professional competence and commercial ethics in the provision, maintenance and services for Business Continuity Management (BCM).
Classified	Refers to information that is subject to special security classification regulations imposed by many national governments. This might include but is not limited to transportation security, military-related research.
Confidential Employee Information	This refers to personal employee information that is privileged only on a need-to-know basis. This includes but is not limited to home address and home phone number, information not otherwise available that is identified by the sender as personal or confidential.
Critical System	A system storing sensitive information or is critical to normal daily operations.
Disaster Recovery Institute (DRI)	DRI International was founded in 1988 in order to develop a base of knowledge in contingency planning an the managemnt of risk, a rapidly growing profession. Today, DRI International administers the industry's premier educational and certification programs for those engaged in the practice of business continuity planning and management.
FERPA	Federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act. Refer to the FERPA Compliance Statement.
ISCP	Information Security Compliance Program
Information Security Office	The Information Security Office is a virtual office of the IT staff who respond to a potential or actual information security breach. The office is managed by the Assistant Vice President for Information Security and Networking. Managed and supported by the Information Technology Division
IT-supported	Managed and supported by the Information Technology Division
Legislation	Refers to United States government legal acts, which are outlined on the WPI page, Federal and State Legislation.
MAC Address	Media Access Control (MAC)
Machine	Any device that stores or processes data.
National Institute of Standards and Technology	Founded in 1901, NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Commerce Department's Technology Administration. NIST's mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.
Network Security Policy	http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/Policies/netsec.html
NSP	Network Security Policy
Personal machine	A machine not owned or operated by WPI not owned by someone affiliated with WPI. Example: A student's personal computer or a staff member's home computer.
Public Information	Any public information, such as general institutional information, and selected personnel and technical information. This excludes FERPA-protected information as defined by the Registrar's Office.
Restricted information	Information that is protected by legal privacy acts, contracts, and/or information designated by WPI. Federal legislation includes, but is not limited to, Copyright, Federal Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
SAN	Storage area network
SANS	SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) is the most trusted and by far the largest source for information security training and certification in the world. It also develops, maintains and makes available at no cost, the largest collection of research documents about various aspects of information security. Also, it operates the Internet's early warning system - Internet Storm Center. The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization.
Sensitive Information	Information that is considered WPI confidential informatin, governmentally regulated information, WPI intellectual property, information covered under any executed non-disclosure aggrement and WPI community personally identifiable information.
Server	A device used as a central point to store or process data for more than one user.
SPI	Stateful Packet Inspection.; A class of network firewalls.
SSID	Service Set IDentifier. The name that a wireless network advertises itself as.
Student Directory Information	As defined in the FERPA Compliance Statement.
System	Any device that stores or processes data. Machine & System are the same.
Systems Administrator	A systems administrator is a member of the university community who is responsible for system and network support of computing resources in a local, departmental or enterprise environment. This could be a single person or a shared responsibility amon several individuals. The title of this person varies by department. The systems administrator acts as the primary contact person in case of a security event.
User authentication	A method by which the user of a wireless system can be verified as a legitimate user independent of the computer or operating system being used.
WEP	Wired Equivalence Privacy. An old standard for wireless encryption which is no longer considered secure.
Wireless Client	Any device that connects to a wireless device, such as a laptop or PDA.
Workstation	Any device used to perform one's role at WPI directly. Example: A laptop used for work or a staff member's desktop PC.
WPA	Wifi Protected Access. A secure standard for wireless encryption.
WPI Confidential Business Information	Confidential business information refers to information as identified by WPI whose disclosure may harm WPI. In practice, it may include, but is not limited to, commercial or financial information that are privileged only on a need-to-know basis, sales and marketing plans, business information identified as confidential.

References

The following websites provide additional security definitions.

Revision History

The Information Technology Division endorsed the definitions in December 2007.
The faculty Committee on IT Policy made revisions to the definitions pertaining to the Data Security Policy and standards, and endorsed those on May 9, 2008.

Maintained by itweb
Last modified: May 13, 2008, 13:10 EDT