CompTIA Acronyms

Make sure you know these common CompTIA acronyms before taking your exam. We have grouped the acronyms together by exam.

Our CompTIA Acronym Flashcard Sets

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  1. CompTIA A+ Acronyms
  2. CompTIA Security+ Acronyms
  3. CompTIA Network+ Acronyms
  4. CompTIA ITF+ Acronyms

CompTIA A+ Acronyms

AAA | Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting

AC | Alternating Current

ACL | Access Control List

ADF | Automatic Document Feeder

AES | Advanced Encryption Standard

AP | Access Point

APFS | Apple File System

APIPA | Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing

APK | Android Package

ARM | Advanced RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) Machine

ARP | Address Resolution Protocol

ATA | Advanced Technology Attachment

ATM | Asynchronous Transfer Mode

ATX | Advanced Technology Extended

AUP | Acceptable Use Policy

BIOS | Basic Input/Output System

BSOD | Blue Screen of Death

BYOD | Bring Your Own Device

CAD | Computer-aided Design

CAPTCHA | Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart

CD | Compact Disc

CDFS | Compact Disc File System

CDMA | Code-Division Multiple Access

CERT | Computer Emergency Response Team

CIFS | Common Internet File System

CMD | Command Prompt

CMOS | Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor

CPU | Central Processing Unit

CRL | Certificate Revocation List

DC | Direct Current

DDoS | Distributed Denial of Service

DDR | Double Data Rate

DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DIMM | Dual Inline Memory Module

DKIM | DomainKeys Identified Mail

DMA | Direct Memory Access

DMARC | Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance

DNS | Domain Name System

DoS | Denial of Service

DRAM | Dynamic Random-Access Memory

DRM | Digital Rights Management

DSL | Digital Subscriber Line

DVI | Digital Visual Interface

DVI-D | Digital Visual Interface-Digital

ECC | Error Correcting Code

EFS | Encrypting File System

EMI | Electromagnetic Interference

EOL | End-of-Life

eSATA | External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

ESD | Electrostatic Discharge

EULA | End-User License Agreement

exFAT | Extensible File Allocation Table

ext | Extended File System

FAT | File Allocation Table

FAT12 | 12-bit File Allocation Table

FAT16 | 16-bit File Allocation Table

FAT32 | 32-bit File Allocation Table

FSB | Front-Side Bus

FTP | File Transfer Protocol

GFS | Grandfather-Father-Son

GPS | Global Positioning System

GPT | GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) Partition Table

GPU | Graphics Processing Unit

GSM | Global System for Mobile Communications

GUI | Graphical User Interface

GUID | Globally Unique Identifier

HAL | Hardware Abstraction Layer

HAV | Hardware-assisted Virtualization

HCL | Hardware Compatibility List

HDCP | High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection

HDD | Hard Disk Drive

HDMI | High-Definition Multimedia Interface

HSM | Hardware Security Module

HTML | Hypertext Markup Language

HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol

HTTPS | Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

I/O | Input/Output

IaaS | Infrastructure as a Service

ICR | Intelligent Character Recognition

IDE | Integrated Drive Electronics

IDS | Intrusion Detection System

IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IMAP | Internet Mail Access Protocol

IOPS | Input/Output Operations Per Second

IoT | Internet of Things

IP | Internet Protocol

IPS | Intrusion Prevention System

IPS | In-plane Switching

IPSec | Internet Protocol Security

IR | Infrared

IrDA | Infrared Data Association

IRP | Incident Response Plan

ISO | International Organization for Standardization

ISP | Internet Service Provider

ITX | Information Technology eXtended

KB | Knowledge Base

KVM | Keyboard-Video-Mouse

LAN | Local Area Network

LC | Lucent Connector

LCD | Liquid Crystal Display

LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

LED | Light-emitting Diode

MAC | Media Access Control/Mandatory Access Control

MAM | Mobile Application Management

MAN | Metropolitan Area Network

MBR | Master Boot Record

MDM | Mobile Device Management

MFA | Multifactor Authentication

MFD | Multifunction Device

MFP | Multifunction Printer

MMC | Microsoft Management Console

MOU | Memorandum of Understanding

MSDS | Material Safety Data Sheet

MSRA | Microsoft Remote Assistance

MX | Mail Exchange

NAC | Network Access Control

NAT | Network Address Translation

NDA | Non-disclosure Agreement

NetBIOS | Networked Basic Input/Output System

NetBT | NetBIOS over TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

NFC | Near-field Communication

NFS | Network File System

NIC | Network Interface Card

NTFS | New Technology File System

NVMe | Non-volatile Memory Express

OCR | Optical Character Recognition

OLED | Organic Light-emitting Diode

ONT | Optical Network Terminal

OS | Operating System

PaaS | Platform as a Service

PAN | Personal Area Network

PC | Personal Computer

PCIe | Peripheral Component Interconnect Express

PCL | Printer Command Language

PE | Preinstallation Environment

PII | Personally Identifiable Information

PIN | Personal Identification Number

PKI | Public Key Infrastructure

PoE | Power over Ethernet

POP3 | Post Office Protocol 3

POST | Power-on Self-Test

PPP | Point-to-Point Protocol

PRL | Preferred Roaming List

PSU | Power Supply Unit

PXE | Preboot Execution Environment

RADIUS | Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service

RAID | Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks

RAM | Random-access Memory

RDP | Remote Desktop Protocol

RF | Radio Frequency

RFI | Radio-Frequency Interference

RFID | Radio-Frequency Identification

RJ11 | Registered Jack Function 11

RJ45 | Registered Jack Function 45

RMM | Remote Monitoring and Management

RTO | Recovery Time Objective

SaaS | Software as a Service

SAN | Storage Area Network

SAS | Serial Attached SCSI (Small Computer System Interface)

SATA | Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

SC | Subscriber Connector

SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

SCP | Secure Copy Protection

SCSI | Small Computer System Interface

SDN | Software-defined Networking

SFTP | Secure File Transfer Protocol

SIM | Subscriber Identity Module

SIMM | Single Inline Memory Module

S.M.A.R.T. | Self-monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology

SMB | Server Message Block

SMS | Short Message Service

SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SNMP | Simple Network Management Protocol

SNTP | Simple Network Time Protocol

SODIMM | Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module

SOHO | Small Office/Home Office

SPF | Sender Policy Framework

SQL | Structured Query Language

SRAM | Static Random-access Memory

SSD | Solid-State Drive

SSH | Secure Shell

SSID | Service Set Identifier

SSL | Secure Sockets Layer

SSO | Single Sign-on

ST | Straight Tip

STP | Shielded Twisted Pair

TACACS | Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System

TCP | Transmission Control Protocol

TCP/IP | Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TFTP | Trivial File Transfer Protocol

TKIP | Temporal Key Integrity Protocol

TLS | Transport Layer Security

TN | Twisted Nematic

TPM | Trusted Platform Module

UAC | User Account Control

UDP | User Datagram Protocol

UEFI | Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

UNC | Universal Naming Convention

UPnP | Universal Plug and Play

UPS | Uninterruptible Power Supply

USB | Universal Serial Bus

UTM | Unified Threat Management

UTP | Unshielded Twisted Pair

VA | Vertical Alignment

VDI | Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VGA | Video Graphics Array

VLAN | Virtual LAN (Local Area Network)

VM | Virtual Machine

VNC | Virtual Network Computer

VoIP | Voice over Internet Protocol

VPN | Virtual Private Network

VRAM | Video Random-access Memory

WAN | Wide Area Network

WEP | Wired Equivalent Privacy

WISP | Wireless Internet Service Provider

WLAN | Wireless LAN (Local Area Network)

WMN | Wireless Mesh Network

WPA | WiFi Protected Access

WWAN | Wireless Wide Area Network

XSS | Cross-site Scripting

You can practice for this exam with our CompTIA A+ practice exams.

CompTIA Security+ Acronyms

3DES | Triple Data Encryption Standard

AAA | Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting

ABAC | Attribute-based Access Control

ACL | Access Control List

AD | Active Directory

AES | Advanced Encryption Standard

AES256 | Advanced Encryption Standards 256bit

AH | Authentication Header

AI | Artificial Intelligence

AIS | Automated Indicator Sharing

ALE | Annualized Loss Expectancy

AP | Access Point

API | Application Programming Interface

APT | Advanced Persistent Threat

ARO | Annualized Rate of Occurrence

ARP | Address Resolution Protocol

ASLR | Address Space Layout Randomization

ASP | Active Server Pages

ATT&CK | Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge

AUP | Acceptable Use Policy

AV | Antivirus

BASH | Bourne Again Shell

BCP | Business Continuity Planning

BGP | Border Gateway Protocol

BIA | Business Impact Analysis

BIOS | Basic Input/Output System

BPA | Business Partnership Agreement

BPDU | Bridge Protocol Data Unit

BSSID | Basic Service Set Identifier

BYOD | Bring Your Own Device

CA | Certificate Authority

CAPTCHA | Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart

CAR | Corrective Action Report

CASB | Cloud Access Security Broker

CBC | Cipher Block Chaining

CBT | Computer-based Training

CCMP | Counter-Mode/CBC-MAC Protocol

CCTV | Closed-Circuit Television

CERT | Computer Emergency Response Team

CFB | Cipher Feedback

CHAP | Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol

CIO | Chief Information Officer

CIRT | Computer Incident Response Team

CIS | Center for Internet Security

CMS | Content Management System

CN | Common Name

COOP | Continuity of Operations Planning

COPE | Corporate-owned Personally Enabled

CP | Contingency Planning

CRC | Cyclic Redundancy Check

CRL | Certificate Revocation List

CSA | Cloud Security Alliance

CSIRT | Computer Security Incident Response Team

CSO | Chief Security Officer

CSP | Cloud Service Provider

CSR | Certificate Signing Request

CSRF | Cross-Site Request Forgery

CSU | Channel Service Unit

CTM | Counter-Mode

CTO | Chief Technology Officer

CVE | Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures

CVSS | Common Vulnerability Scoring System

CYOD | Choose Your Own Device

DAC | Discretionary Access Control

DBA | Database Administrator

DDoS | Distributed Denial-of-Service

DEP | Data Execution Prevention

DER | Distinguished Encoding Rules

DES | Data Encryption Standard

DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DHE | Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral

DKIM | Domain Keys Identified Mail

DLL | Dynamic-link Library

DLP | Data Loss Prevention

DMARC | Domain Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance

DNAT | Destination Network Address Transaction

DNS | Domain Name System

DNSSEC | Domain Name System Security Extensions

DoS | Denial-of-Service

DPO | Data Protection Officer

DRP | Disaster Recovery Plan

DSA | Digital Signature Algorithm

DSL | Digital Subscriber Line

EAP | Extensible Authentication Protocol

ECB | Electronic Code Book

ECC | Elliptic-curve Cryptography

ECDHE | Elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral

ECDSA | Elliptic-curve Digital Signature Algorithm

EDR | Endpoint Detection and Response

EFS | Encrypted File System

EIP | Extended Instruction Pointer

EOL | End of Life

EOS | End of Service

ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning

ESN | Electronic Serial Number

ESP | Encapsulating Security Payload

ESSID | Extended Service Set Identifier

FACL | File System Access Control List

FDE | Full Disk Encryption

FIM | File Integrity Monitoring

FPGA | Field Programmable Gate Array

FRR | False Rejection Rate

FTP | File Transfer Protocol

FTPS | Secured File Transfer Protocol

GCM | Galois/Counter Mode

GDPR | General Data Protection Regulation

GPG | GNU Privacy Guard

GPO | Group Policy Object

GPS | Global Positioning System

GPU | Graphics Processing Unit

GRE | Generic Routing Encapsulation

HA | High Availability

HDD | Hard Disk Drive

HIDS | Host-based Intrusion Detection System

HIPS | Host-based Intrusion Prevention System

HMAC | Hash-based Message Authentication Code

HOTP | HMAC-based One-time Password

HSM | Hardware Security Module

HSMaaS | Hardware Security Module as a Service

HTML | Hypertext Markup Language

HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol

HTTPS | Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

HVAC | Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning

IaaS | Infrastructure as a Service

IAM | Identity and Access Management

ICMP | Internet Control Message Protocol

ICS | Industrial Control Systems

IDEA | International Data Encryption Algorithm

IDF | Intermediate Distribution Frame

IdP | Identity Provider

IDS | Intrusion Detection System

IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IKE | Internet Key Exchange

IM | Instant Messaging

IMAP4 | Internet Message Access Protocol v4

IoC | Indicators of Compromise

IoT | Internet of Things

IP | Internet Protocol

IPS | Intrusion Prevention System

IPSec | Internet Protocol Security

IR | Incident Response

IRC | Internet Relay Chat

IRP | Incident Response Plan

ISA | Interconnection Security Agreement

ISFW | Internal Segmentation Firewall

ISO | International Organization for Standardization

ISP | Internet Service Provider

ISSO | Information Systems Security Officer

ITCP | IT Contingency Plan

IV | Initialization Vector

KDC | Key Distribution Center

KEK | Key Encryption Key

L2TP | Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol

LAN | Local Area Network

LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

LEAP | Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol

MaaS | Monitoring as a Service

MAC | Media Access Control

MAM | Mobile Application Management

MAN | Metropolitan Area Network

MBR | Master Boot Record

MD5 | Message Digest 5

MDF | Main Distribution Frame

MDM | Mobile Device Management

MFA | Multifactor Authentication

MFD | Multifunction Device

MFP | Multifunction Printer

ML | Machine Learning

MMS | Multimedia Message Service

MOA | Memorandum of Agreement

MOU | Memorandum of Understanding

MPLS | Multiprotocol Label Switching

MSA | Measurement Systems Analysis

MS-CHAP | Microsoft Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol

MSP | Managed Service Provider

MSSP | Managed Security Service Provider

MTBF | Mean Time Between Failures

MTTF | Mean Time to Failure

MTTR | Mean Time to Repair

MTU | Maximum Transmission Unit

NAC | Network Access Control

NAS | Network-attached Storage

NAT | Network Address Translation

NDA | Non-disclosure Agreement

NFC | Near-field Communication

NFV | Network Function Virtualization

NGFW | Next-generation Firewall

NG-SWG | Next-generation Secure Web Gateway

NIC | Network Interface Card

NIDS | Network-based Intrusion Detection System

NIPS | Network-based Intrusion Prevention System

NIST | National Institute of Standards & Technology

NOC | Network Operations Center

NTFS | New Technology File System

NTLM | New Technology LAN Manager

NTP | Network Time Protocol

OCSP | Online Certificate Status Protocol

OID | Object Identifier

OS | Operating System

OSI | Open Systems Interconnection

OSINT | Open-source Intelligence

OSPF | Open Shortest Path First

OT | Operational Technology

OTA | Over-The-Air

OTG | On-The-Go

OVAL | Open Vulnerability and Assessment Language

OWASP | Open Web Application Security Project

P12 | PKCS #12

P2P | Peer-to-Peer

PaaS | Platform as a Service

PAC | Proxy Auto Configuration

PAM | Privileged Access Management

PAM | Pluggable Authentication Modules

PAP | Password Authentication Protocol

PAT | Port Address Translation

PBKDF2 | Password-based Key Derivation Function 2

PBX | Private Branch Exchange

PCAP | Packet Capture

PCI DSS | Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

PDU | Power Distribution Unit

PE | Portable Executable

PEAP | Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol

PED | Portable Electronic Device

PEM | Privacy Enhanced Mail

PFS | Perfect Forward Secrecy

PGP | Pretty Good Privacy

PHI | Personal Health Information

PII | Personally Identifiable Information

PIN | Personal Identification Number

PIV | Personal Identity Verification

PKCS | Public Key Cryptography Standards

PKI | Public Key Infrastructure

PoC | Proof of Concept

POP | Post Office Protocol

POTS | Plain Old Telephone Service

PPP | Point-to-Point Protocol

PPTP | Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol

PSK | Preshared Key

PTZ | Pan-Tilt-Zoom

PUP | Potentially Unwanted Program

QA | Quality Assurance

QoS | Quality of Service

RA | Registration Authority

RAD | Rapid Application Development

RADIUS | Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service

RAID | Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks

RAM | Random Access Memory

RAS | Remote Access Server

RAT | Remote Access Trojan

RC4 | Rivest Cipher version 4

RCS | Rich Communication Services

RFC | Request for Comments

RFID | Radio Frequency Identification

RIPEMD | RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation Message Digest

ROI | Return on Investment

RPO | Recovery Point Objective

RSA | Rivest, Shamir, & Adleman

RTBH | Remotely Triggered Black Hole

RTO | Recovery Time Objective

RTOS | Real-time Operating System

RTP | Real-time Transport Protocol

S/MIME | Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions

SaaS | Software as a Service

SAE | Simultaneous Authentication of Equals

SAML | Security Assertions Markup Language

SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

SCAP | Security Content Automation Protocol

SCEP | Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol

SDK | Software Development Kit

SDLC | Software Development Life Cycle

SDLM | Software Development Life-cycle Methodology

SDN | Software-defined Networking

SDP | Service Delivery Platform

SDV | Software-defined Visibility

SED | Self-Encrypting Drives

SEH | Structured Exception Handling

SFTP | SSH File Transfer Protocol

SHA | Secure Hashing Algorithm

SIEM | Security Information and Event Management

SIM | Subscriber Identity Module

SIP | Session Initiation Protocol

SLA | Service-level Agreement

SLE | Single Loss Expectancy

SMB | Server Message Block

SMS | Short Message Service

SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SMTPS | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Secure

SNMP | Simple Network Management Protocol

SOAP | Simple Object Access Protocol

SOAR | Security Orchestration, Automation, Response

SoC | System on Chip

SOC | Security Operations Center

SPF | Sender Policy Framework

SPIM | Spam over Instant Messaging

SQL | Structured Query Language

SQLi | SQL Injection

SRTP | Secure Real-time Transport Protocol

SSD | Solid State Drive

SSH | Secure Shell

SSID | Service Set Identifier

SSL | Secure Sockets Layer

SSO | Single Sign-on

STIX | Structured Threat Information eXpression

STP | Shielded Twisted Pair

SWG | Secure Web Gateway

TACACS+ | Terminal Access Controller Access Control System

TAXII | Trusted Automated eXchange of Intelligence Information

TCP/IP | Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TGT | Ticket Granting Ticket

TKIP | Temporal Key Integrity Protocol

TLS | Transport Layer Security

TOTP | Time-based One Time Password

TPM | Trusted Platform Module

TSIG | Transaction Signature

TTP | Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures

UAT | User Acceptance Testing

UDP | User Datagram Protocol

UEBA | User and Entity Behavior Analytics

UEFI | Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

UEM | Unified Endpoint Management

UPS | Uninterruptible Power Supply

URI | Uniform Resource Identifier

URL | Universal Resource Locator

USB | Universal Serial Bus

USB OTG | USB On-The-Go

UTM | Unified Threat Management

UTP | Unshielded Twisted Pair

VBA | Visual Basic for Applications

VDE | Virtual Desktop Environment

VDI | Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VLAN | Virtual Local Area Network

VLSM | Variable-length Subnet Masking

VM | Virtual Machine

VoIP | Voice over IP

VPC | Virtual Private Cloud

VPN | Virtual Private Network

VTC | Video Teleconferencing

WAF | Web Application Firewall

WAP | Wireless Access Point

WEP | Wired Equivalent Privacy

WIDS | Wireless Intrusion Detection System

WIPS | Wireless Intrusion Prevention System

WORM | Write Once Read Many

WPA | WiFi Protected Access

WPS | WiFi Protected Setup

XaaS | Anything as a Service

XML | Extensible Markup Language

XOR | Exclusive OR

XSRF | Cross-site Request Forgery

XSS | Cross-site Scripting

You can practice for this exam with our CompTIA Security+ practice exams.

CompTIA Network+ Acronyms

AAAA | Authentication, Authorization, Accounting, Auditing

ACL | Access Control List

AES | Advanced Encryption Standard

AH | Authentication Header

AP | Access Point

APC | Angled Physical Contact

APIPA | Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing

ARP | Address Resolution Protocol

AUP | Acceptable Use Policy

BGP | Border Gateway Protocol

BNC | British Naval Connector/Bayonet Neill-Concelman

BYOD | Bring Your Own Device

CAM | Content Addressable Memory (table)

CAN | Campus Area Network

CDMA | Code Division Multiple Access

CIA | Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability

CIDR | Classless Inter-Domain Routing

CLI | Command-Line Interface

CNAME | Canonical Name

CPU | Central Processing Unit

CRC | Cyclic Redundancy Check

CSMA/CA | Carrier-Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance

CSMA/CD | Carrier-Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection

CSU | Channel Service Unit

CVE | Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures

CWDM | Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing

DaaS | Desktop as a Service

dB | Decibel

DDoS | Distributed Denial-of-Service

DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DLP | Data Loss Prevention

DNS | Domain Name System

DoS | Denial-of-Service

DSL | Digital Subscriber Line

DSU | Data Service Unit

DWDM | Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing

EAP | Extensible Authentication Protocol

EIA | Electronic Industries Association

EIGRP | Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol

EIRP | Effective Isotropic Radiated Power

ESP | Encapsulating Security Payload

EUI | Extended Unique Identifier

FCoE | Fibre Channel over Ethernet

FHRP | First Hop Redundancy Protocol

FTP | File Transfer Protocol

GBIC | Gigabit Interface Converter

GRE | Generic Routing Encapsulation

GSM | Global System for Mobile Communications

HA | High Availability

HDMI | High-Definition Multimedia Interface

HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol

HTTPS | Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

HVAC | Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

IaaS | Infrastructure as a Service

ICMP | Internet Control Message Protocol

ICS | Industrial Control System

IDF | Intermediate Distribution Frame

IDS | Intrusion Detection System

IGMP | Internet Group Management Protocol

IMAP | Internet Message Access Protocol

IoT | Internet of Things

IP | Internet Protocol

IPS | Intrusion Prevention System

IPSec | Internet Protocol Security

IPv4 | Internet Protocol version 4

IPv6 | Internet Protocol version 6

iSCSI | Internet Small Computer Systems Interface

ISP | Internet Service Provider

LACP | Link Aggregation Control Protocol

LAN | Local Area Network

LC | Local Connector

LDAP | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

LDAPS | Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (over SSL)

LED | Light-Emitting Diode

LTE | Long-Term Evolution

MAC | Media Access Control/Medium Access Control

MAN | Metropolitan Area Network

MDF | Main Distribution Frame

MDIX | Medium Dependent Interface Crossover

mGRE | Multipoint Generic Routing Encapsulation

MIB | Management Information Base

MIMO | Multiple Input, Multiple Output

MU-MIMO | Multiuser – Multiple Input, Multiple Output

MOU | Memorandum of Understanding

MPLS | Multiprotocol Label Switching

MTBF | Mean Time Between Failure

MT-RJ | Mechanical Transfer – Registered Jack

MTTR | Mean Time to Repair

MTU | Maximum Transmission Unit

MX | Mail Exchange

NAC | Network Access Control

NAS | Network Attached Storage

NAT | Network Address Translation

NDA | Non-Disclosure Agreement

NFV | Network Function Virtualization

NGFW | Next-Generation Firewall

NIC | Network Interface Card

NS | Name Server

NTP | Network Time Protocol

OID | Object Identifier

OSI | Open Systems Interconnection

OSPF | Open Shortest Path First

OTDR | Optical Time Domain Reflectometer

PaaS | Platform as a Service

PAN | Personal Area Network

PAT | Port Address Translation

PDU | Power Distribution Unit

PoE | Power over Ethernet

POP3 | Post Office Protocol version 3

PSK | Pre-Shared Key

PTR | Pointer Record

QoS | Quality of Service

QSFP | Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable

RA | Router Advertisements

RADIUS | Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service

RAID | Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks

RDP | Remote Desktop Protocol

RF | Radio Frequency

RFC | Request for Comment

RG | Radio Guide

RIP | Routing Internet Protocol

RJ | Registered Jack

RPO | Recovery Point Objective

RSSI | Received Signal Strength Indication

RTO | Recovery Time Objective

RTSP | Real Time Streaming Protocol

SaaS | Software as a Service

SAN | Storage Area Network

SC | Standard Connector/Subscriber Connector

SCADA | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

SDN | Software-Defined Network

SDWAN | Software-Defined WAN

A | SPELLED OUT

SFP | Small Form-factor Pluggable

SFTP | Secure File Transfer Protocol

SIEM | Security Information and Event Management

SIP | Session Initiation Protocol

SLA | Service Level Agreement

SLAAC | Stateless Address Auto-Configuration

SMB | Server Message Block

SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SNMP | Simple Network Management Protocol

SOA | Start of Authority

SOHO | Small Office Home Office

SQL | Structured Query Language

SRV | Service Record

SSD | Solid-State Drive

SSH | Secure Shell

SSID | Service Set Identifier

SSL | Secure Sockets Layer

SSO | Single Sign-On

ST | Straight Tip or Snap Twist

STP | Spanning Tree Protocol

SYSLOG | System Log

TACACS+ | Terminal Access Controller Access Control System Plus

TCP | Transmission Control Protocol

TFTP | Trivial File Transfer Protocol

TIA/EIA | Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Alliance

TKIP | Temporal Key Integrity Protocol

TLS | Transport Layer Security

TTL | Time to Live

TX/RX | Transmit and Receive

UDP | User Datagram Protocol

UPC | Ultra-Physical Contact

UPS | Uninterruptible Power Supply

URL | Uniform Resource Locator

USB | Universal Serial Bus

UTP | Unshielded Twister Pair

VIP | Virtual IP

VLAN | Virtual Local Area Network

VM | Virtual Machine

VNC | Virtual Network Computing

vNIC | virtual Network Interface Card

VoIP | Voice over Internet Protocol

VPN | Virtual Private Network

VRRP | Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol

WAN | Wide Area Network

WAP | Wireless Access Point

WDM | Wavelength Division Multiplexing

WLAN | Wireless Local Area Network

WPA | WiFi Protected Access

You can practice for this exam with our CompTIA Network+ practice exams.

CompTIA ITF+ Acronyms

AC | Alternating Current

ACL | Access Control List

AES | Advanced Encryption Standard

AIO | All In One

APIPA | Automatic Private Internet Protocol Addressing

ARM | Advanced RISC Machines

ARP | Address Resolution Protocol

ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange

BD-ROM | Blu-ray Disc-Read-Only Memory

BIOS | Basic Input/Output System

CAD | Computer-Aided Design

CAM | Computer-Aided Manufacturing

CD | Compact Disc

CD-ROM | Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory

CD-RW | Compact Disc-Rewritable

CPU | Central Processing Unit

CRUD | Create, Read, Update, Delete

CSS | Cascading Style Sheets

DC | Direct Current

DDL | Data Definition Language

DDoS | Distributed Denial of Service

DDR | Double Data-Rate

DHCP | Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

DIMM | Dual Inline Memory Module

DLL | Dynamic Link Layer

DLP | Data Leak Prevention

DML | Data Manipulation Language

DNS | Domain Name Service or Domain Name Server

DoS | Denial of Service

DSL | Digital Subscriber Line

DVD | Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc

DVD-R | Digital Video Disc-Recordable

DVD-RW | Digital Video Disc-Rewritable

DVI | Digital Visual Interface

EMI | Electromagnetic Interference

eSATA | External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

ESD | Electrostatic Discharge

EULA | End-User License Agreement

FAT | File Allocation Table

FAT32 | 32-bit File Allocation Table

FTP | File Transfer Protocol

FTPS | File Transfer Protocol over Secure Sockets Layer

Gb | Gigabit

GB | Gigabyte

Gbps | Gigabit per second

GHz | Gigahertz

GPS | Global Positioning System

GPU | Graphics Processing Unit

GUI | Graphical User Interface

HDD | Hard Disk Drive

HDMI | High-Definition Media Interface

HFS | Hierarchical File System

HTML | Hypertext Markup Language

HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol

HTTPS | Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

ICMP | Internet Control Message Protocol

IDS | Intrusion Detection System

IMAP | Internet Mail Access Protocol

IOPS | Input/Output Operations Per Second

IoT | Internet of Things

IP | Internet Protocol

IPS | Intrusion Prevention System

IR | Infrared

ISP | Internet Service Provider

Kb | Kilobit

KB | Kilobyte or Knowledge Base

Kbps | Kilobit per second

LAN | Local Area Network

MAC | Media Access Control

Mb | Megabit

MB | Megabyte

Mbps | Megabit per second

MHz | Megahertz

MITM | Man in the Middle

MP3 | Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 3 Audio

MP4 | Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 4

NAS | Network Attached Storage

NDA | Non-Disclosure Agreement

NFC | Near Field Communications

NIC | Network Interface Card

NTFS | New Technology File System

OEM | Original Equipment Manufacturer

OS | Operating System

PB | Petabyte

PC | Personal Computer

PCI | Peripheral Component Interconnect

PCIe | Peripheral Component Interconnect Express

PII | Personally Identifiable Information

PIN | Personal Identification Number

POP | Post Office Protocol

POP3 | Post Office Protocol 3

PSU | Power Supply Unit

PXE | Preboot Execution Environment

RAID | Redundant Array of Independent Disks

RAM | Random Access Memory

RF | Radio Frequency

RJ | Registered Jack

RJ-11 | Registered Jack Function 11

RJ-45 | Registered Jack Function 45

ROM | Read-Only Memory

SaaS | Software as a Service

SATA | Serial Advanced Technology Attachment

SD Card | Secure Digital Card

SFTP | Secure File Transfer Protocol

SID | System Identifier

SMB | Server Message Block

SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SNMP | Simple Network Management Protocol

SOHO | Small Office, Home Office

SQL | Structured Query Language

SSD | Solid State Drive

SSID | Service Set Identifier

SSO | Secure Sign-On

SSL | Secure Sockets Layer

Tb | Terabit

TB | Terabyte

Tbps | Terabits per second

TCP | Transmission Control Protocol

TCP/IP | Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol

TKIP | Temporal Key Integrity Protocol

TLS | Thread Local Storage

UPS | Uninterruptible Power Supply

URL | Uniform Resource Locator

USB | Universal Serial Bus

VGA | Video Graphics Array or Video Graphics Adapter

VoIP | Voice over Internet Protocol

VPN | Virtual Private Network

WAN | Wide Area Network

WAP | Wireless Access Point

WEP | Wired Equivalency Privacy

WIFI | Wireless Fidelity

WLAN | Wireless Local Area Network

WPA | Wireless Protected Access

WPA2 | Wireless Protected Access 2

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Ahmed Sheikh
Ahmed is our CompTIA expert. He has his master's degree in electrical engineering and has published books on different CompTIA topics.