ANSSI has just published CyberDico, its first dictionary on cybersecurity. Accessible free of charge online, it lists the definitions and translations of words, expressions and acronyms in the sector.
If we talk to you about DSN Pharming, MaaS or Bootkit, do you know what they are? You have surely already come across, during your adventures on the Internet or in a professional context, terms borrowed from cybersecurity jargon. However, the latter can be obscure to say the least, with all its acronyms, abbreviations and terms in English. To fully understand the technical aspects of cyber-resilience and the issues behind digital security, it is essential to understand what we are talking about.
Also, the very serious National Agency for the Security of Information Systems (ANSSI) published, on July 15, its first edition of CyberDico, a small online dictionary that offers an alphabetically ordered list of words, expressions and acronyms used in the field of cybersecurity. It also includes official translations of many anglicisms as well as an explanation in French and English of each of the terms.
CyberDico: a free document set to evolve
The CyberDico presents itself as “the reference document, [qui] will allow you to perfect your cyber knowledge and help you in writing your materials”. You can find it free of charge and online, in PDF format, on the ANSSI website, accessible at this address. It contains hundreds of definitions that will certainly be very useful to you. You can facilitate your search using the essential CTRL + F.
Many anglicisms are entitled to an official French translation. For example, “cloud” becomes “cloud infrastructure”, “cookie” is replaced by “connection witness”, “Dark Net” and “Dark Web” are transformed into “Internet clandestine” and “Internet caché/sombre”, “jailbreak” becomes “débridage système”, etc.
The CyberDico is currently 34 pages long. A great initiative, but one that can still be improved. ANSSI is well aware of this and warns on the first page that “the CyberDico is intended to evolve and be updated regularly”Let us salute this laudable effort at popularization as it deserves.