Glossary of Terms

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M

M

MAC

MAC (Media Access Control)

Macdink

Machine Cryptosystem

Machine Instruction

Machine Language

Machine Learning

Machine-Oriented Language

Machine-Readable Medium

Macro

Macros

Magic

Magnetic Core Storage

Magnetic Disk Unit

Magnetic Drum Unit

Magnetic Field Intensity

Magnetic Flux Density

Magnetic Remanence

Magnetic Saturation

Magnetic stripe card

Mail server antivirus program

Mailbox

Maintainability

Maintenance Hook

Maintenance Key

Maintenance Of Configuration Documentation

Maintenance Procedures, Contract Employee

Maintenance Procedures, Local Employee

MAJCOM

MAJCOM C4 Systems Security Office

MAJCOM Computer System Security Manager

MAJCOM Computer System Security Manager (MCSSM)

Major incidents

Major Information System

Malicious links

Malicious Logic

Malicious payload

Malicious software (Malware)

Malware (malicious software)

MAN

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network)

Managed security service provider (MSSP)

Management Control Process

Management Information System

Management Of The Security Function

Manchester Encoding

Mandatory Access

Mandatory Access Control

Mandatory Access Control (MAC)

Mandatory Access Controls

Mandatory default algorithms

Mandatory Modification

Mandatory Protection

Mandatory vacations

Manged

Mangle

Mangler

Mango

Man-in-the-middle attack

Manipulation Detection

Manipulative Communications Deception

Manual Cryptosystem

Manual Remote Rekeying

MAPLESS

Marbles

Mark

Marking

Marking Of Media

Marking Of Sensitive Information

Mars

Martian

MASINT

Mask

Massage

Master Crypto-Ignition Key

Matching Programs

Material Symbol

Matrix

MATSYM

Maximum Access Time

Maximum Maytag Mode

Mbogo, Dr. Fred

MBSA

MCCB

MCCR

MCSSM

MCTL

MD5

MDC

Measure Of Effectiveness

Measurement And Signature Intelligence

Media

Media Access Control (MAC)

Media Convergence

Medium

Medium Access Control Sublayer

Meeces

MEECN

Meg

Mega

MEGO

Meltdown, Network

Meme

Memory

Memory (Non-Volatile)

Memory (Random)

Memory (Sequential)

Memory (Volatile)

Memory Address Translation Unit

Memory Bounds Checking

Memory Page Cache

Menu

MEP

MER

Message

Message Alignment Indicator

Message Authentication

Message Authentication Code

Message Authentication Codes

Message Broadcast

Message Distribution Center

Message Externals

Message Handling Systems

Message Indicator

Message integrity

Message Register Leads

Metal Particle Tape

Metamorphic viruses

Metasyntactic Variable

Method

Metric

Metrics

Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

Metropolitan Area Network MAN

MFTL

Mgt

MHS

MHz

MI

MIB

Mickey

Mickey Mouse Program

Micro

Microinstruction

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)

Microsoft Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (MS-CHAP)

Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption (MPPE)

Microwave/Wireless Communications Security

MIJI

Militarily Critical Technology

MIL-STD

Minimal Protection

Minimizing security burdens

Minor Change To A System Of Records

Minor incidents

MINTERM

MIPR

MIPS

Misbug

Missile Address

Mission-Critical

Mission-Essential Unclassified Information

Miswart

MLS

MMC (Microsoft Management Console)

MOA

Mobile COMSEC Facility

Mobile Workstation Security

Moby

Mod

Mode

Mode Of Operation

Modem

Modes Of Operation

Modulo

MOE

Mongolian Hordes Technique

Monitor

Monitoring (e. g. , Data, Line)

Monkey, Scratch

Monographic Processing

Monty

Moof

MOP

Moria

MOU

Mouse

Mouse Droppings

Mouso

MPPE (Microsoft Point-to-Point Encryption)

MRK

MRT

MS-DOS

MSE

MTBF

MTR

MTT

Mu

MUD

Muddie

Mudhead

Multichannel Information

Multics

Multilevel Device

Multilevel Mode

Multilevel Mode Or Multilevel Security Mode

Multilevel Processing

Multilevel Secure

Multilevel Security

Multilevel Security Mode

Multilevel Systems

Multiple Access

Multiple Access Rights Terminal

Multiprocessing

Multiprogramming

Multi-pronged attacks

Multi-Satellite Link

Multi-User Hosts

Multiuser Mode Of Operation

Multi-User Mode Of Operation

Multi-User Security Mode

Multi-User Security Mode Of Operation

Munch

Munching Squares

Mundane

Mung

Munge

Music

Mutter

Mutual Suspicion

Mutual Synchronization

Mutually Suspicious

Mutually Synchronized Network

MUX

Mw

Magic Number

n. [UNIX/C] In source code, some non-obvious constant whose value is significant to the operation of a program and that is inserted inconspicuously in-line (hardcoded), rather than expanded in by a symbol set by a commented `#define'. Magic numbers in this sense are bad style.
A number that encodes critical information used in an algorithm in some opaque way. The classic examples of these are the numbers used in hash or CRC functions, or the coefficients in a linear congruential generator for pseudo-random numbers. This sense actually predates and was ancestral to the more common sense 1.
Special data located at the beginning of a binary data file to indicate its type to a utility. Under UNIX, the system and various applications programs (especially the linker) distinguish between types of executable file by looking for a magic number. Once upon a time, these magic numbers were PDP-11 branch instructions that skipped over header data to the start of executable code; 0407, for example, was octal for `branch 16 bytes relative'. Nowadays only a wizard knows the spells to create magic numbers. How do you choose a fresh magic number of your own? Simple -- you pick one at random. See? It's magic! *The* magic number, on the other hand, is 7+/
See "The magical number seven, plus or minus two some limits on our capacity for processing information" by George Miller, in the "Psychological Review" 63:81-97 (1956). This classic paper established the number of distinct items (such as numeric digits) that humans can hold in short-term memory. Among other things, this strongly influenced the interface design of the phone system.