Every IT conversation has a vocabulary, and most of it was never explained to the people who pay for it. This glossary defines 72 terms the way we would across a desk: what the thing is, why it matters to a business, and where it fits. Where a term is a service we provide, it links to the page that explains it. Use the filter box to jump to a word.
The box on the ceiling that broadcasts Wi-Fi. A business network usually has several, managed together so a laptop moves between them without dropping.
Microsoft’s directory of user accounts, computers and permissions for a company network. On-premises Active Directory lives on a server; its cloud counterpart is Entra ID.
Software on a computer that recognises and blocks known malicious programs. Modern products such as SentinelOne also watch behaviour, so they catch attacks that have never been seen before.
A copy of data kept somewhere else so it can be restored after a failure, a mistake or an attack. A backup that has never been test-restored is a hope, not a backup. See cloud backups.
How much data a connection can carry per second. Slow video calls on a fast connection are usually a Wi-Fi or a latency problem, not a bandwidth one.
Windows’ built-in disk encryption. With it on, a stolen laptop is a lost laptop rather than a data breach. The Mac equivalent is FileVault.
Paying for IT help by the hour when something is broken, with no monthly plan. Fine for a tiny office; expensive and reactive for anything larger. See hourly IT support.
The plan for keeping the business running through an outage, a fire or a cyberattack: which systems come back first, how, and who does what. See business continuity planning.
A scam in which a criminal poses as an executive, a vendor or a customer by email and asks for a payment or a change of bank details. It causes more losses to small businesses than ransomware.
Computing that runs in someone else’s data centre and is reached over the internet: Microsoft 365, a hosted server, an online accounting system. See cloud migration.
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, the Department of Defense standard for its contractors. Level 1 is 17 basic practices, self-assessed each year. See the CMMC Level 1 self-check.
An arrangement where an in-house IT person keeps part of the work and an outside provider takes the rest, in writing. See co-managed IT services.
Rules in Microsoft 365 that decide whether a sign-in is allowed based on who, where and on what device. Blocking sign-ins from countries you do not do business in is a common one.
Insurance against the costs of a cyberattack. Carriers now require specific controls before they will write a policy. See the cyber insurance readiness check.
Parts of the internet reachable only through special software, where stolen passwords and data are traded. Monitoring services watch it for your company’s credentials.
A signature added to outgoing email that proves it was not altered on the way and came from an authorised server. One of three records that stop email spoofing.
A DNS record that tells receiving mail servers what to do with email that fails SPF and DKIM checks, and where to send reports. Set to reject, it stops impostors sending as your domain. See the email spoofing check.
The internet’s address book, turning names such as oactechnology.com into the numeric addresses computers use. Email security records live in DNS.
Two meanings: your company’s name on the internet (yourcompany.com), and, on a Windows network, the set of computers and accounts managed together.
Time when a system people need is not working. The cost is the salaries of the people waiting plus the revenue that did not happen.
Endpoint detection and response: software that records what happens on a computer and can stop an attack in progress and isolate the machine. Managed EDR adds people watching it. See Huntress managed detection and response.
Scrambling data so it can only be read with the right key. Applies to disks, backups, email in transit and websites (the padlock in the browser).
The date after which a vendor stops issuing security fixes for a product. Windows 10 reached it in October 2025. Running EOL systems is a common insurance exclusion. See legacy operating system support.
Any device that connects to the network: a desktop, a laptop, a phone, a server. Endpoint security means protecting each one rather than only the network edge.
Microsoft’s cloud identity service (formerly Azure Active Directory). It holds the accounts behind Microsoft 365 sign-ins and enforces multi-factor authentication and conditional access.
The device between your network and the internet that decides what traffic may pass. A managed firewall is monitored and kept updated; an unmanaged one is a box that was configured once. See network support.
The people you call when something is not working. A good one answers the phone, knows your company, and fixes most things remotely and quickly. See IT support and help desk.
The US law governing protected health information. Its Security Rule requires administrative, physical and technical safeguards from clinics and their vendors. See the HIPAA security checklist.
A business phone system that runs in the cloud instead of a box in your closet, with an app on every phone and computer. See business phone systems.
Software that lets one physical server run several virtual servers. VMware, Hyper-V and Proxmox are hypervisors.
The planned steps taken when a security breach is suspected: contain it, investigate, recover and notify. A one-page plan with the right phone numbers is most of it.
Identity threat detection and response: watching cloud accounts, such as Microsoft 365 logins, for takeover attempts, suspicious sign-ins and mailbox rules that forward mail out.
The delay before data starts moving, measured in milliseconds. High latency makes remote desktops and video calls feel sluggish even on a fast connection.
Giving each person and program only the access their job needs. A user who is not an administrator on their own computer cannot install the malware they were tricked into downloading.
A flat monthly arrangement in which a provider takes responsibility for keeping your systems running: help desk, monitoring, patching, maintenance and planning. See managed IT services and what they cost.
Managed detection and response: endpoint detection plus a team of analysts watching it around the clock, investigating alerts and isolating machines. See Huntress MDR.
Multi-factor authentication: proving who you are with something beyond a password, usually a code or prompt on your phone. It stops most account takeovers and is required by nearly every cyber insurer.
Microsoft’s subscription bundle of email, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint and the Office apps, in Business Basic, Standard and Premium plans. See Microsoft 365 support and the plan picker.
Managed service provider: a company that delivers managed IT services. OAC Technology is one.
A widely used outline of security practices in five functions: identify, protect, detect, respond, recover. Many assessments and questionnaires are built on it.
The steps taken when someone leaves: accounts disabled, mail forwarded, devices collected and wiped, access removed from every system. Done the same day, it closes the most common insider gap.
Running on equipment in your own building, as opposed to in the cloud. A server in the closet is on-premises.
Applying the updates vendors release to fix security holes. Managed patching applies them on a schedule and reports what was done. See managed IT services.
The card industry’s security standard for anyone who takes card payments. Keeping card numbers inside the payment provider’s system keeps the obligations small.
A paid, authorised attack on your systems by security professionals to find the holes before criminals do. Different from a vulnerability scan, which is automated.
Email, texts or calls designed to trick someone into giving up a password, opening a file or sending money. Take the phishing quiz to see how convincing it is.
Malware that encrypts your files and demands payment for the key, often after stealing a copy to extort you twice. Tested backups and MDR are the defence. See ransomware remediation.
Remote Desktop Protocol, the way Windows machines are controlled from afar. Exposed to the internet without protection, it is one of the most common ways ransomware gets in.
The software an MSP installs on each computer and server to watch its health, apply patches and connect for support. It is how problems get fixed before anyone calls.
Recovery point objective: how much data you can afford to lose, measured in time since the last backup. Recovery time objective: how long you can afford to be down. Both drive how backups are designed.
Software as a service: applications you subscribe to and use in a browser, such as Microsoft 365, QuickBooks Online or a dispatch system. Your data lives with the vendor; backing it up is still your job.
Short, regular training and simulated phishing emails that teach staff to recognise attacks, with records for insurers and auditors. See security awareness training.
A computer that provides a service to others: file storage, email, a database, an application. It may be a physical box, a virtual machine or a cloud instance. See server support.
Security information and event management: collecting logs from firewalls, servers and cloud services in one place so attacks that span systems can be spotted. Huntress firewall security is a managed version.
Service level agreement: the written promise of how quickly a provider responds and resolves issues, and what happens if it does not.
An audit standard for service providers covering security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy. An SOC 2 audited MSP has had its own controls examined by an independent auditor every year. See our SOC 2 compliance.
A DNS record listing the servers allowed to send email for your domain. One of three records, with DKIM and DMARC, that stop spoofing.
Sending email that appears to come from someone else’s address. Preventable for your own domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC. See the email spoofing check.
The device that connects the wired computers, printers and access points in an office to one another. A managed switch can be monitored and segmented; an unmanaged one cannot.
Your company’s own instance of a cloud service, most often Microsoft 365. Settings, users and security policies live at the tenant level.
Another name for multi-factor authentication with exactly two factors, typically a password and a phone prompt.
The share of time a system is available, usually written as a percentage. Ninety-nine point nine percent still allows almost nine hours of downtime a year.
Uninterruptible power supply: a battery that keeps a server or network running through a short outage and shuts it down cleanly through a long one.
Virtual chief information officer: an outside advisor who owns your technology strategy, budget and roadmap on a part-time basis. See vCIO and IT consulting.
Virtual chief information security officer: an outside security leader who owns your security program, policies and evidence, and answers to leadership. See vCISO services.
A server that runs as software on another server. Several VMs share one physical machine, which is cheaper and easier to back up and move.
A way of dividing one physical network into separate virtual ones, so that guest Wi-Fi, security cameras and the accounting system cannot see each other. See network security.
Voice over Internet Protocol: phone calls carried over the internet rather than copper lines. Hosted VoIP is the cloud version. See business phone systems.
Virtual private network: an encrypted tunnel between a remote worker and the office network, or between two offices. Requires MFA to be safe.
An automated check of your systems for known weaknesses and missing patches. Cheap and repeatable; different from a penetration test.
A security hole that attackers are exploiting before the vendor has released a fix. Behaviour-based endpoint protection and MDR exist largely for these.
A security approach that assumes no user or device is trusted by default, inside the network or out, and verifies every access. Multi-factor authentication and least privilege are its everyday form.
Ask us. Call 952-548-5558 or contact us, and we will explain it the same way, and add it here for the next person.
