Cybersecurity Style Guide

The World Wide Web Consortium.

Web application firewall. Can also refer to the WPF Application Framework. Both are pronounced as “waff” or the whole phrase. Spell out on first use to clarify your intended meaning.

Short for Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (its original four components). A software bundle. Do not spell out.

Wide area network. Pronounced as “wann.”

A ransomware attack that hit in May 2017.

“War-” terms like these and warshipping were inspired by the movie WarGames.

Always close -ware compounds. Do not pluralize with “-s.”

A 1983 movie about a NORAD AI that wants to play a game of thermonuclear war.

Also known as threat modeling or tabletop gaming. For example, capture the flag (CTF) at a security conference.

WebAssembly. Pronounced as “waz-im.” Spell out on first use.

An IBM productized question-answering AI, famous for winning Jeopardy!

Do not capitalize.

Outdated corporate jargon; use sparingly.

Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning.

Often simplified to just forum.

A user-defined HTTP callback.

Often abbreviated to just site.

An IBM product.

Use directory structure instead.

A section of a window rendered using HTML.

An Android system component.

A popular Chinese chat app also known as Weixin (微信).

A Chinese microblogging site.

Describes data that is valid for a given piece of computer logic.

Wired Equivalent Privacy. A wireless network encryption protocol. Do not spell out.

A GNU tool. Pronounced as “W-get.”

Write these unique 3-meter-by-3-meter coordinates in normal font with dots between them. For example, an area in Shenzhen, China happens to have the name owns.that.shell.

A messaging app.

A non-malicious hacker. When used as an adjective, consider using ethical instead.

A company that makes a vulnerability scanner and supporting services.

Consider using the alternate terms allowlist and safelist.

A formal technical report.

A command to identify the user.

A query protocol. Use the whois command to search the WHOIS database.

Always hyphenate.

If it’s the name of a specific widget, write it in the tech font, as in Video widget.

Wireless intrusion detection system. Pronounced as letters, “wireless IDS,” or the whole phrase. Spell out on first use.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi-Fi does not stand for wireless fidelity. Do not write as WiFi or wifi. Pronounced as “why-fie.” Use the tech font for Wi-Fi network names.

A Wi-Fi hacking/auditing tool.

A wireless network auditing tool.

Pronounced as “wee.”

A collaborative, editable style of blog. Originates from the Hawaiian word “wikiwiki,” meaning fast. Pronounced as “wicky.”

A user-curated online encyclopedia. Sometimes the findings we disclose are so new that the best resources on the topic are Wikipedia articles.

Characters that can stand in for either a single character or a string of characters.

A Java application server.

Microsoft operating system.

“Wine Is Not an Emulator.” Software that emulates Windows for macOS or Linux systems. Wine is a recursive acronym.

Short for Windows Secure Copy. A Windows SFTP and FTP client.

A tool for capturing and analyzing network traffic.

Women in Security and Privacy.

Wireless LAN. Pronounced as “double you lan” or the whole phrase.

A joyous internet exclamation.

The fictional NORAD AI featured in the 1983 movie WarGames. Pronounced like “whopper.”

Describes files or directories that any user could read.

Describes files or directories that any user could write to.

A standalone malware that replicates itself in order to spread to other systems without user interaction.

Capable of being turned into a network worm. Used to describe a vulnerability.

Wi-Fi Protected Access. Wireless network security protocols. Do not spell out.

Web proxy auto-discovery protocol. Pronounced as “double you pad” or the whole phrase.

A community and conference series that work to encourage and improve documentation, particularly for software.

Web Services Description Language. Pronounced as “wazz-dull.”

Web Server Gateway Interface. Pronounced as “wiz-gee,” “whiskey,” or letters.

Worldwide Developers Conference. An annual Apple conference in the Bay Area.

The World Wide Web.

Short for “what you see is what you get.” A view in a user interface that displays rich formatting instead of plain code. Pronounced as “wizzy-wig.” Informal.