Interactive Tools
Tech Glossary
A searchable reference of key technology terms across AI, cybersecurity, hardware, and software engineering.
51 terms
A
- AlgorithmSoftware
- A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or accomplishing a task, often implemented as a computer program.
- APISoftware
- Application Programming Interface — a set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other.
- Artificial IntelligenceAI
- The simulation of human intelligence by machines, enabling them to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform tasks that typically require human cognition.
B
- BandwidthHardware
- The maximum rate of data transfer across a network path, typically measured in bits per second (bps).
- BlockchainSoftware
- A decentralized, distributed digital ledger that records transactions across many computers so that records cannot be altered retroactively.
- Brute Force AttackCybersecurity
- A trial-and-error method used to decode encrypted data by systematically checking all possible keys or passwords until the correct one is found.
C
- CacheHardware
- A hardware or software component that stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster.
- CI/CDSoftware
- Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment — practices that automate the building, testing, and deployment of software changes.
- Cloud ComputingSoftware
- The delivery of computing services — servers, storage, databases, networking — over the internet, enabling flexible scaling and pay-as-you-go pricing.
- CNNAI
- Convolutional Neural Network — a deep learning architecture primarily used for image recognition and computer vision tasks.
- ContainerizationSoftware
- A lightweight form of virtualization that packages an application and its dependencies into a container that can run consistently across environments.
- CPUHardware
- Central Processing Unit — the primary component of a computer that performs most of the processing, executing instructions from programs.
- CryptographyCybersecurity
- The practice of securing information by transforming it into an unreadable format using mathematical algorithms, so only authorized parties can access it.
D
- DDoSCybersecurity
- Distributed Denial of Service — a cyberattack that floods a target with traffic from multiple sources to overwhelm and disable it.
- Deep LearningAI
- A subset of machine learning using neural networks with many layers to model complex patterns in large datasets.
- DNSSoftware
- Domain Name System — the internet's phonebook that translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses.
E
- Edge ComputingHardware
- Processing data near the source of data generation rather than in a centralized data center, reducing latency.
- EncryptionCybersecurity
- The process of converting data into a coded format to prevent unauthorized access, using algorithms and keys.
F
- FirewallCybersecurity
- A network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
- FPGAHardware
- Field-Programmable Gate Array — an integrated circuit designed to be configured after manufacturing, allowing custom hardware logic.
G
- GANAI
- Generative Adversarial Network — a machine learning framework where two neural networks compete to generate realistic synthetic data.
- GPUHardware
- Graphics Processing Unit — a specialized processor designed to accelerate graphics rendering and increasingly used for parallel computing tasks like AI training.
H
- HallucinationAI
- In AI, when a language model generates confident-sounding but factually incorrect or fabricated information.
- HypervisorSoftware
- Software that creates and runs virtual machines, allowing multiple operating systems to share a single hardware host.
I
- IoTHardware
- Internet of Things — the network of physical devices embedded with sensors and connectivity that enables them to collect and exchange data.
K
- KernelSoftware
- The core component of an operating system that manages system resources and provides services for other software.
L
- LatencyHardware
- The time delay between a request being sent and the response being received, often measured in milliseconds.
- LLMAI
- Large Language Model — an AI model trained on vast amounts of text data that can generate, summarize, and reason about human language.
M
- MalwareCybersecurity
- Malicious software designed to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems.
- MicroservicesSoftware
- An architectural style that structures an application as a collection of small, independently deployable services.
N
- Neural NetworkAI
- A computing system inspired by biological neural networks, consisting of interconnected nodes that process information in layers.
- NLPAI
- Natural Language Processing — a branch of AI that enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language.
O
- Open SourceSoftware
- Software whose source code is freely available for anyone to inspect, modify, and distribute.
- OverclockingHardware
- Running a computer component at a higher clock rate than it was designed for to increase performance.
P
- Penetration TestingCybersecurity
- An authorized simulated cyberattack on a computer system to evaluate its security and identify vulnerabilities.
- PhishingCybersecurity
- A social engineering attack that uses fraudulent messages to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information.
- Prompt EngineeringAI
- The practice of designing and optimizing input prompts to get desired outputs from AI language models.
Q
- Quantum ComputingHardware
- A type of computation that uses quantum bits (qubits) to perform calculations exponentially faster than classical computers for certain problems.
R
- RAGAI
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation — an AI technique that enhances language model responses by fetching relevant information from external knowledge bases.
- RAMHardware
- Random Access Memory — volatile computer memory that temporarily stores data for quick access by the processor.
- RansomwareCybersecurity
- A type of malware that encrypts a victim's data and demands payment for the decryption key.
- RESTSoftware
- Representational State Transfer — an architectural style for designing networked applications using standard HTTP methods.
S
- SoCHardware
- System on a Chip — an integrated circuit that combines all components of a computer into a single chip, common in mobile devices.
- SSHCybersecurity
- Secure Shell — a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network.
- Supervised LearningAI
- A machine learning approach where the model is trained on labeled input-output pairs to learn a mapping function.
T
- TLSCybersecurity
- Transport Layer Security — a cryptographic protocol that provides secure communication over a computer network, the successor to SSL.
- TokenAI
- In AI/NLP, a unit of text (word, subword, or character) that a language model processes. In security, a piece of data used for authentication.
- TransformerAI
- A deep learning architecture that uses self-attention mechanisms to process sequential data, forming the basis of models like GPT and BERT.
V
- VPNCybersecurity
- Virtual Private Network — a service that encrypts internet traffic and routes it through a remote server to protect privacy and bypass restrictions.
W
- WebSocketSoftware
- A communication protocol that provides full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection for real-time data transfer.
Z
- Zero-DayCybersecurity
- A software vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor and has no available patch, making it particularly dangerous to exploit.