CISSP Practice

Information system project design that breaks the development of a project into various pieces (modules), each solving a specific part of the overall problem. These modules should be as narrow in scope and brief in duration as practicable. Such design minimizes the risk to an organization by delivering a net benefit separate from the development of other pieces.

Modular software

Software that is self-contained logical sections, or modules, which carry out well-defined processing actions.

Modularity

Software attributes that provide a structure of highly independent modules.

Monitoring

Recording of relevant information about each operation by a subject on an object maintained in an audit trail for subsequent analysis.

Moore’s law

States that that the number of transistors per square inch on an integrated circuit (IC) chip used in computers doubles every 18 months, the performance (microprocessor processing speed) of a computer doubles every 18 months, the cost of a CPU power is halved every 18 months, or the size of computer programs is increased in less than 18 months, where the latter is not a Moore’s law.

Most significant bit(s)

The left-most bit(s) of a bit string.

Motion picture experts group (MPEG)

The MPEG is a multimedia standard used to compress videos consisting of images and sound. MPEG-1 is used for storing movies on CD-ROM while MPEG-2 is used to support higher resolution HDTVs. MPEG-2 is a superset of MPEG-1.

Multi-exit discriminator (MED)

A Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) attribute used on external links to indicate preferred entry or exit points (among many) for an autonomous system (AS). An AS is one or more routers working under a single administration operating the same routing policy.

Multi-drop

Network stations connected to a multipoint channel at one location.

Multifactor authentication

Authentication using two or more factors to achieve the authentication goal. Factors include (2) something you know (e.g., password/PIN), (2) something you have (e.g., cryptographic identification device or token), or (3) something you are (e.g., biometric).

Multi-hop problem

The security risks resulting from a mobile software agent visiting several platforms.

Multilevel secure

A class of system containing information with different sensitivities that simultaneously permits access by users with different security clearances and needs-to-know but prevents users from obtaining access to information for which they lack authorization.

Multilevel security mode

A mode of operation that allows two or more classification levels of information to be processed simultaneously within the same system when not all users have a clearance or formal access approval for all data handled by a computer system.

Multimedia messaging service (MMS)

An accepted standard for messaging that lets users send and receive messages formatted with text, graphics, photographs, audio, and video clips.

Multipartite virus

A virus that uses multiple infection methods, typically infecting both files and boot sectors.

Multiple component incident

A single incident that encompasses two or more incidents.

Multiplexers

A multiplexer is a device for combining two or more information channels. Multiplexing is the combining of two or more information channels onto a common transmission medium.

Multipoint

A network that enables two or more stations to communicate with a single system on one communications line.

Multi-processing

A computer consisting of several processors that may execute programs simultaneously.

Multi-programming

The concurrent execution of several programs. It is the same as multi-tasking.

Multipurpose Internet mail extension (MIME)

(1) A specification for formatting non-ASCII messages so that they can be sent over the Internet. MIME enables graphics, audio, and video files to be sent and received via the Internet mail system, using the SMTP protocol. In addition to e-mail applications, Web browsers also support various MIME types. This enables the browser to display or output various files that are not in HTML format. (2) A protocol that makes use of the headers in an IETF RFC 2822 message to describe the structure of rich message content.

Multi-tasking

The concurrent execution of several programs. It is the same as multiprogramming.

Multi-threading

Program code that is designed to be available for servicing multiple tasks at once, in particular by overlapping inputs and output.

Mutation analysis