Browse Definitions by Alphabet
COS - CUS
- cost price - A cost price includes all outlays that are required for production, including property costs, materials, power, research and development, testing, worker wages and anything else that must be paid for.
- cost-benefit analysis (CBA) - Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is an analytical tool for assessing and the pros and cons of moving forward with a business proposal.
- cost-benefit analysis software - Cost-benefit analysis software is a computer program or suite that assists personnel in the complex task of determining whether or not a proposed plan or project will pay off.
- COTS, MOTS, GOTS, and NOTS - COTS, MOTS, GOTS, and NOTS are abbreviations that describe pre-packaged software or hardware purchase alternatives.
- CouchDB - CouchDB is an open source document-oriented database based on common web standards.
- coulomb - The coulomb (symbolized C) is the standard unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI).
- coulomb per centimeter squared - The coulomb per centimeter squared (symbolized C/cm 2) is a unit of electric flux density.
- Counter Mode with Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP) - Counter Mode with Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Code Protocol (CCMP) is an encryption protocol based on the U.
- counterfeit app (fake app) - A counterfeit app is an app that claims to fill a purpose while actually being fake, ineffective, useless or even harmful to a user's device.
- counterintelligence - Counterintelligence (CI) is the information gathered and actions taken to identify and protect against an adversary’s knowledge collection activities or attempts to cause harm through sabotage or other actions.
- countermeasure - A countermeasure is an action, process, device, or system that can prevent, or mitigate the effects of, threats to a computer, server or network.
- coupling - Coupling is the act of joining two things together.
- courseware - Courseware is educational material intended as kits for teachers or trainers or as tutorials for students, usually packaged for use with a computer.
- COVID-19 Glossary for Employers and HR Managers - We will be updating this pandemic glossary frequently over the next few weeks to help you use consistent vocabulary in your crisis communication emails, newsletters, phone scripts and telecommuter updates.
- cow power (biogas) - Cow power is a term for the conversion of manure to usable energy.
- cowboy coding - Cowboy coding describes an undisciplined approach to software development.
- coworking - Coworking is a business services provision model that involves individuals working independently or collaboratively in shared office space.
- CPE credit - Continuing professional education, or CPE, credit is a term referring to the points professionals receive for participating in specialized training in IT and other fields.
- CPE device - A CPE device is telecommunications hardware located at the home or business of a customer.
- CPI - For a given font, cpi (characters per inch) is the number of typographic character that will fit on each inch of a printed line.
- CPQ software (configure price quote software) - CPQ (configure, price, quote) is programming that helps sales representatives and self-service customers quickly generate accurate quotes for configurable products and services.
- CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface) - CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface) is a specification for wireless communication networks in the interface between radio equipment and radio equipment control.
- CQRS (command query responsibility segregation) - Command query responsibility segregation (CQRS) is a programming design pattern that treats retrieving data and changing data differently.
- Craftsman Costs Books - The Craftsman Costs Books are a series published by the Craftsman Book Company, a publishing company focusing on the construction industry and estimating software.
- CRAM (challenge-response authentication mechanism) - CRAM (challenge-response authentication mechanism) is the two-level scheme for authenticating network users that is used as part of the Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
- CrashPlan - Code42 Software's CrashPlan data protection software comes in home, small business and enterprise versions.
- crawl depth - Crawl depth is the extent to which a search engine indexes pages within a website.
- crawler - A crawler is a program that visits Web sites and reads their pages and other information in order to create entries for a search engine index.
- CRC-4 (Cyclic Redundancy Check 4) - CRC-4 (Cyclic Redundancy Check 4) is a form of cyclic redundancy checking -- a method of checking for errors in transmitted data -- that is used on E1 trunk lines.
- Creative Commons - Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that offers copyright licenses for digital work.
- creative destruction - Creative destruction is a process through which something new brings about the demise of whatever existed before it.
- credential stuffing - Credential stuffing is the practice of using stolen login information from one account to gain access to accounts on a number of sites through automated login.
- crisis communication - Crisis communication is a method of corresponding with people and organizations during a disruptive event to provide them with the information they need to respond to the situation.
- crisis management - Crisis management is the application of strategies designed to help an organization deal with a sudden and significant negative event.
- crisis management plan (CMP) - A crisis management plan (CMP) outlines how to respond to a critical situation that would negatively affect an organization's profitability, reputation or ability to operate.
- critical infrastructure - Critical infrastructure is the body of systems, networks and assets that are so essential that their continued operation is required to ensure the security of a given nation, its economy, and the public’s health and/or safety.
- critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) - Critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR) is the collective of natural and man-made resources, along with the systems for their processing and delivery, upon which a nation depends on for functioning.
- critical infrastructure security - Critical infrastructure security is the area of concern surrounding the protection of systems, networks and assets whose continuous operation is deemed necessary to ensure the security of a given nation, its economy, and the public’s health and/or safety.
- critical path method (CPM) - The CPM was developed in the 1950s by DuPont, and was first used in missile-defense construction projects.
- critical success factors - Critical success factors are a limited number of key variables or conditions that have a tremendous impact on how successfully and effectively an organization meets its mission or the strategic goals or objectives of a program or project.
- critical thinking - Critical thinking is the capacity to be objective, rational and analytical about subjects, situations and cognitive problems.
- CRM (customer relationship management) - Customer relationship management (CRM) is the combination of practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.
- CRM analytics - CRM (customer relationship management) analytics comprises all programming that analyzes data about customers and presents it to help facilitate and streamline better business decisions.
- CRON script - A CRON script is a list of one or more commands to a computer operating system or application server that are to be executed at a specified time.
- crontab - crontab is a UNIX command that creates a table or list of commands, each of which is to be executed by the operating system at a specified time.
- crop insurance - Crop insurance is a type of protection policy that covers agricultural producers against unexpected loss of projected crop yields or profits from produce sales at market.
- cross-bar switch - In a network, a cross-bar switch is a device that is capable of channeling data between any two devices that are attached to it up to its maximum number of ports.
- cross-browser testing - Cross-browser testing, also called browser testing, is a quality assurance (QA) process that checks whether a web-based application, site or page functions as intended for end users across multiple browsers and devices.
- cross-channel analytics - Cross-channel analytics is a strategy used by marketing professionals to study the methods by which customers are influenced to buy a product or service, especially when those methods are combined.
- cross-docking - Cross-docking is the practice of unloading goods from inbound delivery vehicles and loading them directly onto outbound vehicles.
- cross-functional team - A cross-functional team is a workgroup made up of employees from different functional areas within an organization who collaborate to reach a stated objective.
- cross-media ownership - Media cross-ownership is a situation in which a single corporate entity owns multiple types of media companies.
- cross-platform mobile development - Cross-platform mobile development is the creation of software applications that are compatible with multiple mobile operating systems.
- cross-site request forgery (XSRF or CSRF) - Cross-site request forgery (XSRF or CSRF) is a method of attacking a Web site in which an intruder masquerades as a legitimate and trusted user.
- cross-site scripting (XSS) - Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of injection attack in which a threat actor inserts data, such as a malicious script, into content from otherwise trusted websites.
- cross-site tracing (XST) - Cross-site tracing (XST) is a sophisticated form of cross-site scripting (XSS) that can bypass security countermeasures already put in place to protect against XSS.
- crossfade - In digital audio production, a crossfade is editing that makes a smooth transition between two audio files.
- crosstalk - Crosstalk is a disturbance caused by the electric or magnetic fields of one telecommunication signal affecting a signal in an adjacent circuit.
- crowdfunding - Crowdfunding is a financing method that involves soliciting relatively modest contributions from a group of individuals.
- crowdsourcing - Crowdsourcing is the practice of turning to a body of people to obtain needed knowledge, goods or services.
- CRUD cycle (Create, Read, Update and Delete Cycle) - The CRUD cycle describes the elemental functions of a persistent database in a computer.
- cruft - Cruft is the elements of a program, system or product that are either useless, poorly designed or both.
- CRUSH (Controlled Replication Under Scalable Hashing) - CRUSH (Controlled Replication Under Scalable Hashing) is a hash-based algorithm for calculating how and where to store and retrieve data in a distributed object –based storage cluster.
- cryogenics - Cryogenics is the study of material sciences at extremely low temperatures.
- cryptanalysis - Cryptanalysis is the study of ciphertext, ciphers and cryptosystems with the aim of understanding how they work and finding and improving techniques for defeating or weakening them.
- crypto-agility - Crypto-agility, or cryptographic agility, is a data encryption practice used by organizations to ensure a rapid response to a cryptographic threat.
- cryptocurrency - Cryptocurrency is a digital form of currency that uses cryptography to secure the processes involved in generating units, conducting transactions and verifying the exchange of currency ownership.
- cryptogram - A cryptogram is a word puzzle featuring encrypted text that the user decrypts to reveal a message of some sort.
- cryptographic checksum - Generated by a cryptographic algorithm, a cryptographic checksum is a mathematical value assigned to a file sent through a network for verifying that the data contained in that file is unchanged.
- cryptographic nonce - A nonce is a random or semi-random number that is generated for a specific use.
- cryptography - Cryptography is a method of protecting information and communications through the use of codes, so that only those for whom the information is intended can read and process it.
- Cryptography quiz questions and answers: Test your smarts - Put your encryption knowledge to the test, and perhaps even learn a new word or concept in the process with these cryptography quiz questions.
- cryptojacking - Cryptojacking is the surreptitious and unauthorized use of a computer for the resource and power-demanding requirements of cryptocurrency mining.
- cryptology - Cryptology is the mathematics, such as number theory and the application of formulas and algorithms, that underpin cryptography and cryptanalysis.
- cryptomining malware - Cryptomining malware is a form of malware that takes over a computer or mobile device's resources and uses them to perform cryptocurrency mining, a process of verifying cryptocurrency transactions using complex mathematical formulas also known as cryptojacking.
- cryptosystem - A cryptosystem is a structure or scheme consisting of a set of algorithms that converts plaintext to ciphertext to encode or decode messages securely.
- Crystal Reports - Crystal Reports is a popular Windows-based report writer solution that allows a developer to create reports and dashboards from a variety of data sources with a minimum of code to write.
- CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) - CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) is a protocol for carrier transmission in 802.
- CSO (Chief Security Officer) - A Chief Security Officer (CSO) is a C-suite executive responsible for a company's physical and digital security.
- CSR (Certificate Signing Request) - A Certificate Signing Request or CSR is a specially formatted encrypted message sent from a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) digital certificate applicant to a certificate authority (CA) validating the information required by the CA in order for it to issue a certificate.
- CSS (cascading style sheets) - This definition explains the meaning of cascading style sheets (CSS) and how using them with HTML pages is a user interface (UI) development best practice that complies with the separation of concerns design pattern.
- CSSLP (certified secure software lifecycle professional) - The CSSLP (certified secure software lifecycle professional) is a certification for security professionals who wish to strengthen and demonstrate their knowledge about application security.
- CSU/DSU (Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit) - A CSU/DSU (Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit) is a hardware device about the size of an external modem that converts a digital data frame from the communications technology used on a local area network (LAN) into a frame appropriate to a wide-area network (WAN) and vice versa.
- CSV (Cluster Shared Volumes) - CSV (Cluster Shared Volumes) is a feature in Windows Server in which shared disks are concurrently accessible to all nodes within a failover cluster.
- CT scan - A computerized tomography (CT scan) is a form of computer-assisted imaging, that is assembled from many xrays.
- Ctrl-Alt-Delete - On a personal computer with the Microsoft Windows operating system, Control+Alt+Delete is the combination of the Ctrl key, the Alt key, and Del key that a user can press at the same time to terminate an application task or to reboot the operating system.
- CubeSat - A CubeSat is a small, low-cost, cube-shaped research satellite.
- cubic meter (meter cubed) - The cubic meter is the unit of volume in the International System of Units.
- cultural fit - Cultural fit is the likelihood that a job candidate will be able to conform and adapt to the core values and collective behaviors that make up an organization.
- culture hacking - Culture hacking is the gradual process of implementing numerous small, positive changes in an organization.
- culture of failure (blameless culture) - A culture of failure is a set of shared values, goals and practices that encourages learning through experimentation.
- cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) - In information technology, cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) refers to any of several physical problems that can result from improper or excessive use of a computer display or terminal.
- curation - Curation is a field of endeavor involved with assembling, managing and presenting some type of collection.
- curiosity artificial intelligence (curiosity AI) - Curiosity artificial intelligence (curiosity AI) is the simulation of human curiosity in artificial intelligence.
- curiosity gap - The curiosity gap is the detection that new and valuable information is available, sparking people’s desire to access it.
- currency - Currency is anything that is generally accepted to have value as a medium of exchange so that it can be traded for goods and services.
- current - Current is a flow of electrical charge carriers, usually electrons or electron-deficient atoms.
- Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code - Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes are a uniform medical code set maintained and copyrighted by the American Medical Association and used to describe medical, surgical and diagnostic services.
- cursor - A cursor is the position indicator on a computer display screen where a user can enter text.
- custom domain name suffix (custom TLD) - A custom domain name suffix, or custom TLD, is a top-level domain (TLD) name that belongs to a single organization.