Glossary of Commonly Used Terms

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

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U

V

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X

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Z

A

ActiveSync

Provides synchronization of contacts, calendars, tasks, and email between hand-held devices and enabled servers.

AD (Active Directory)

Allows system administrators to assign policies, deploy software, and apply critical updates to an organization...storing information and settings in a central database. Allows for LDAP access control, Kerberos-based authentication, DNS-based naming and information security, among other network services.

Advance

Delivers an electronic process, rather than the old paper-driven one of tracking faculty and academics from appointment to appraisal, and then from Assistant, to Associate, to Full Professor (known as the appointment and advancement process).* [oaais.ucsf.edu]

A next generation Electronic Medical Record (EMR)/ Electronic Health Record (EHR) that is being developed by the UCSF Medical Center.

The most common approach to providing access control and information privacy to user and enterprise information, using user IDs and passwords. Authentication generally precedes authorization as part of standard security protocols for access.

Authorization (AuthZ)

Used to determine whether an authenticated user has the required permission or access right to a particular resource or to perform a specific operation. 

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B

Barracuda

Barracuda Networks produces Barracuda Spam Filter (see Spam Filtering), used to help prevent junk email from reaching users' inboxes.

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C

Campus Locator System (CLS)

Directory-related information on UCSF faculty and staff. The system was developed to support the need to locate individuals in the UCSF community, to address large and small volume mailings and to provide general directory information for the UCSF campus and Medical Center.

Certificate(s)

A public key certificate (also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate) is an electronic document which uses a digital signature to bind together a public key with an identity...or to verify that a public key belongs to an individual. See also SSL Certificate(s)

CHR

Committee on Human Research (CHR site): UCSF's Institutional Review Board (IRB)...operating under Federal regulations, State laws, and institutional policy, that reviews research involving human subjects to ensure the ethical and equitable treatment of those subjects.* [ucsf.edu]

Credentials

Used to control access to information or other resources. The classic combination of a user account number or name and a secret password is a widely-used example of IT credentials.

Central Processing Unit: The primary computer element carrying out program functions.

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D

Data Network

Any set of computers or devices connected to each other with the ability to exchange information/data. The three types of networks are: the Internet, the intranet, and the extranet.

De-provisioning

The end of the...user life-cycle, from identity creation to final de-provisioning from accounts database and denial of access to resources. See also, Provisioning.

Originally referred to as Desktop Computer: A computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile [device or] laptop.

DLS (Desktop and LAN Support)

Computer support...delivered either by a person physically attending the premises where a computer is located, over the telephone or via remote desktop access (such as workstation sharing).

DNS

Domain Name System: A distributed hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. 

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E

E-Discovery

Usually (but not always) a digital forensics analysis is performed to recover evidence...dealing with the exchange of information in electronic format.

Effort Reporting

An online, web-based system that replaces the 25-year-old outdated, paper PAR process...to meet a federal requirement to certify the work accomplished by all employees assigned to federally-funded research grants and contracts.* [oaais.ucsf.edu]

Email Filtering

The processing of messages to organize them according to specified criteria. Most often this refers to the automatic processing of incoming messages.

Encryption

The process of transforming information...using an algorithm (called cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key.

A next generation Electronic Medical Record (EMR)/ Electronic Health Record (EHR) that is being developed by the UCSF Medical Center.

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F

Federation/Federated Identity

Allows for cross-domain single sign-on and removes the need for content providers/users to maintain [multiple] user names and passwords.

Filtering/Filters

See Spam Filtering/Barracuda, or Email Filtering

Firewalls

A technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts.

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H

Help Desk

An information and assistance resource that troubleshoot s problems with computers or similar products; IT support. For more information on services visit help.ucsf.edu, or phone 415-514-4100.

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I

Identity and Access Management (IdAM)

Also known as Identity Access Management (IAM): Provides appropriate access to enterprise resources [by] authenticating users and granting or denying access rights to data and system resources. See also Authentication and Authorization.

IID

Individual Identifier System: Acts as a clearing house for identities, matching identity qualifying information and ensuring that each person has a single unique identity record.* [oaais.ucsf.edu]

iMedRIS

A web-based system that enables online application submission, real-time submission tracking, CHR review, post-approval compliance activities, and data management. The system also functions as a document repository, providing investigators with easy access to submission records and study documents.* [oaais.ucsf.edu]

Infrastructure

Informal and formal channels of communication, software development tools, political and social networks, or beliefs held by members of particular groups…providing organizing structure and support for the system or organization it serves.

Information Architecture

Generally...how a website's content is organized and presented to its users to facilitate navigation and search functions.* [businessdictionary.com]

Integrated Data Repository (IDR)

The Integrated Data Repository is a secure, convenient and compliant data warehouse of clinical and life sciences data for use by researchers.

IP

Internet Protocol: Used for communicating data across a packet-switched internetwork.

ISP

Internet Service Provider: Also sometimes referred to as an Internet access provider (IAP), is a company that offers its customers access to the Internet.

Password-protected sites designed for use only by [designated internal] employees.* [howstuffworks.com]

ITSM (IT Service Management)

A discipline for managing information technology (IT) systems, philosophically centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business. 

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L

LDAP

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol: The industry standard directory access protocol...for querying and modifying data of directory services implemented in Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Deployments today tend to use Domain Name System (DNS) names for structuring the topmost levels of [a] hierarchy. Deeper inside the directory might appear entries representing people, organizational units, printers, documents, groups of people or anything else that represents a given tree entry (or multiple entries).

Listserv

The first electronic mailing list software application. An electronic mailing list is a special usage of email that allows for widespread distribution of information to many Internet users. It is similar to a traditional mailing list...but typically refers to four things — a list of email addresses, the people ("subscribers") receiving mail at those addresses, the publications (e-mail messages) sent to those addresses, and a reflector, which is a single e-mail address that, when designated as the recipient of a message, will send a copy of that message to all of the subscribers.

Local Area Network (LAN)

Usually a small network constrained to a small geographic area. An example of a LAN would be a computer network within a building

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M

Malware

Short for malicious software: Designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner's informed consent.

Usually a network constrained to a moderately-sized geographic area, such as a city or state.

Metadata

A concept that applies mainly to electronically archived or presented data and is used to describe the a) definition, b) structure and c) administration of data files with all contents in context to ease the use of the captured and archived data for further use.

Middleware

Is computer software that connects software components or some people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact.

MyAccess

A centralized authentication system; through the web interface, users will be able to access information systems and services using a single user ID and password. * [oaais.ucsf.edu]

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N

See Data Network

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O

Online Payroll/Personnel System: Comprised of several databases that maintain information about University employees, it provides automated facilities in support of the payroll and personnel requirements of the University.

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P

Password Synchronization

Any process or technology that helps users to maintain a single password that is subject to a single security policy, and changes on a single schedule across multiple systems. It's a type of Identity Management software and it's considered easier to implement than enterprise single sign-on, as there is no client software deployment, and user enrollment can be automated.

PeopleSoft

Essentially an application format that allows all of a company's business functions to be accessed and run on a web browser, utilizing design tools to define various types of metadata, standard security structure, batch processing tools, and the ability to interface with an SQL database.

Provisioning

In telecommunication...the process of preparing and equipping a network to allow it to provide (new) services to its users.  [For more information, see User Provisioning on Wikipedia.]

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Q

A precise request for information retrieval from database and information systems.

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S

SEP

Symantec Endpoint Protection : An anti-virus and firewall product leveled at centrally managed corporate environment security for servers and workstations. SEP is currently being deployed for Windows only (for Macs, see Sophos).

Server Certificates

See SSL Certificate(s)

Server(s)

A server is either a software, or one or series of computers that link other computers or electronic devices together. They often provide essential services across a network, either to private users inside a large organization or to public users via the Internet...in theory any computerized process that shares a resource to one or more client processes is a server.

Shibboleth

A middleware project for open-source implementation of federated identity-based authentication and authorization infrastructure based on Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML).

Single Sign-on

A [form] of access control of multiple, related, but independent software systems. With this property a user logs in once and gains access to all systems without being prompted to log in again [for each system]. 

Sophos

An anti-virus solution currently used for Linux, Windows and Macs. SEP will be the solution for Linux and Windows after fall 2010, and Sophos will be solely for Mac OS X systems or later.

Spam

Unsolicited bulk email (UBE), junk mail, or unsolicited commercial email (UCE)...frequently [sent] with commercial content, in large quantities to an indiscriminate set of recipients.

Spam Filtering

Both end users and administrators of e-mail systems use various anti-spam techniques...some of which have been embedded in products, services and software to ease the burden on users and administrators.

Spyware

A type of malware that can be installed on computers and collects little bits of information at a time about users without their knowledge.

SSL Certificate(s)

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL): Cryptographic protocols that provide security for communications over networks such as the Internet...by encrypting the segments of network connections at the Application Layer to ensure secure end-to-end transit at the Transport Layer.

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U

Universal Serial Bus: A port specification that [provides] connection between computer peripherals such as mice, keyboards, digital cameras, printers, personal media players, flash drives, Network Adapters, and external hard drives.

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V

Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)

A group of hosts with a common set of requirements that communicate as if they were attached to the same broadcast domain, regardless of their physical location. A VLAN has the same attributes as a physical LAN, but allows for end stations to be grouped together even if they are not located on the same network switch. Network reconfiguration can be done through software instead of physically relocating devices.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

Provides remote access to secure resources using a dedicated, real-world connection such as leased line, routed through the Internet from an organization's private network to the remote site or employee.* [howstuffworks.com]

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W

WebLinks

An online tool for reporting financial, payroll and personnel information within UCSF.* [oaais.ucsf.edu]

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)

Links two or more devices using a wireless distribution method (typically spread-spectrum or OFDM radio), and usually providing a connection through an access point to the wider internet. This gives users the mobility to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected to the network.