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Security terms, defined plainly

Plain definitions of privileged access management, database activity monitoring, cloud and identity security terms, from the team behind SWOT.

Credential vaultingAlso: password vaulting, secrets vaulting, privileged credential vault, secrets managementCredential vaulting is the practice of storing privileged passwords, SSH keys, API tokens and other secrets in an encrypted, access-controlled vault that releases or injects them only under policy, rotates them, and logs every use.
Cyber asset attack surface management (CAASM)Also: CAASM, cyber asset management, asset attack surface managementCyber asset attack surface management (CAASM) is the practice of continuously discovering an organisation's devices, workloads and identities, reconciling them into one accurate inventory, and showing how they connect, so that unmanaged assets, excess access and attack paths can be found and fixed.

Database activity monitoring (DAM)Also: DAM, database auditing, database activity monitoring and protectionDatabase activity monitoring (DAM) is the practice of capturing, analysing and alerting on who does what inside a database, including queries, schema changes, privilege grants and sign-ins, so that misuse is detected and every action is attributable.

Identity securityAlso: identity-first security, identity and access security, ICAMIdentity security is the discipline of protecting every human and machine identity, together with its credentials and entitlements, across its lifecycle, so that only verified identities gain the access they need and misuse of that access is detected quickly.

Just-in-time (JIT) accessAlso: JIT access, JIT privileged access, time-bound access, ephemeral accessJust-in-time (JIT) access is an access model in which elevated permissions are granted only when a user or workload requests them for a specific task, usually after approval, and are removed automatically when a set time window ends.

Least privilegeAlso: principle of least privilege, PoLP, least-privilege access, minimal privilegeLeast privilege is the security principle that every user, process and system should hold only the access rights it needs to perform its assigned tasks, and nothing more, so that a mistake or compromise affects as little as possible.

Non-human identity (NHI)Also: NHI, machine identity, workload identity, service identity, service accountA non-human identity (NHI) is an account or credential used by software rather than a person, such as a service account, API key, workload role, bot or certificate, that lets applications, scripts and services authenticate to other systems.

Privileged access management (PAM)Also: PAM, privileged account management, privileged access securityPrivileged access management (PAM) is the set of controls and tools that decide who may use administrative access to critical systems, for how long and under what conditions, while keeping the credentials protected and every privileged session on record.