Programmer Slang, Part 3: Security, Hacking, Firmware & Exploit Dev

 

Programmer Slang, Part 3: Security, Hacking, Firmware & Exploit Dev

Security & Hacking

Term	Meaning
exploit	Code or technique that takes advantage of a vulnerability
zero-day	A vulnerability that's unknown to the vendor and has no patch yet
backdoor	A hidden way to bypass normal authentication/access controls
brute force	Trying every possible combination until one works
payload	The actual malicious code/action an exploit delivers
privilege escalation	Gaining higher access rights than originally granted
attack surface	The total set of points where a system could be attacked
sandbox	An isolated environment for running untrusted code safely
honeypot	A decoy system set up to attract and study attackers
fuzzing	Feeding random/malformed input to a program to find crashes or bugs
social engineering	Manipulating people (rather than systems) to gain access
phishing	Tricking someone into giving up credentials or sensitive info
spoofing	Faking an identity, address, or source to appear trustworthy
injection	Sneaking malicious input into a system that gets executed as code
buffer overflow	Writing more data into memory than it was allocated for
kill switch	A mechanism to immediately disable or shut down a system
air gap	Physically isolating a system from unsecured networks
jailbreak	Removing manufacturer restrictions on a device or software
script kiddie	Someone using existing hacking tools without understanding them
red team / blue team	Attackers vs. defenders in a security exercise
bug bounty	A reward offered for responsibly reporting vulnerabilities
CTF (capture the flag)	A competitive hacking/security challenge format
supply chain attack	Compromising a trusted upstream component to reach the real target
canary token	A tripwire value that alerts you when accessed by an intruder
fire sale	A coordinated, cascading attack that takes down multiple critical systems at once — "everything must go"
skeleton key	A single credential/exploit that grants access to many systems at once
living off the land	An attack that uses only tools already present on the target system, no custom malware
pass the hash	An attack that reuses a stolen password hash to authenticate without ever knowing the plaintext password
watering hole attack	Compromising a site the target is known to visit, rather than attacking them directly
god mode	A debug/admin override that bypasses normal restrictions or permissions

Device Hacking & Firmware

Term	Meaning
clockwork mode (CWM)	A custom recovery mode for Android devices, used for flashing custom firmware, rooting, and full backups/restores
brick / bricked	A device rendered completely unusable — "as useful as a brick"
soft brick	A bricked device that can still be recovered (vs. a hard brick, which usually can't)
root / rooting	Gaining superuser/admin access on a locked-down device (usually Android)
jailbreak	Same idea on iOS — removing manufacturer restrictions
unlock bootloader	Disabling the check that only allows signed/official firmware to boot
flashing	Writing new firmware/OS image onto a device
custom ROM	A user-built OS image installed in place of the stock firmware
nandroid backup	A full device state backup taken before flashing, so you can restore if it goes wrong
fastboot mode	A low-level bootloader mode on Android used for flashing partitions
DFU mode	"Device Firmware Update" — Apple's low-level recovery/restore mode
recovery mode	A minimal boot environment used for updates, wipes, or repairs
OTA (over-the-air) update	A firmware/software update pushed and installed wirelessly
factory reset	Wiping a device back to its original shipped state
bootloader	Small program that initializes a device and loads firmware/OS
firmware dump	Extracting the firmware image from a device
ROM dump	Copying the contents of ROM/flash memory
EEPROM dump	Reading and saving EEPROM contents
JTAG	Hardware debugging/programming interface common on embedded devices
SWD	Serial Wire Debug interface used by many ARM microcontrollers
UART console	Serial interface commonly used for debugging and device access
ISP	In-System Programming — programming a microcontroller while installed in the device
ICSP	In-Circuit Serial Programming, commonly associated with Microchip devices
debug port	Hardware interface used to inspect/program/debug a device
secure boot	Ensures only authenticated firmware can execute
firmware signing	Cryptographically signing firmware to verify its authenticity
bootloop	Device repeatedly restarting without successfully booting
downgrade	Installing an older firmware version
rollback	Returning to a previous firmware/software version
HAL	Hardware Abstraction Layer — hides hardware-specific details
RTOS	Real-Time Operating System used in embedded systems
watchdog	Hardware/software timer that resets a system if it becomes unresponsive
glitching	Deliberately disturbing timing/power/clock signals to cause unintended processor behavior
fault injection	Deliberately introducing faults to bypass or study security mechanisms
voltage glitching	Briefly manipulating supply voltage to induce a fault
clock glitching	Manipulating the clock signal to alter processor execution
chip-off	Physically removing a memory chip to read its contents externally
test point	Exposed PCB point used for debugging, programming, or measurement
JTAG chain	Multiple JTAG-capable devices connected together for debugging/programming
logic analyzer	Instrument used to inspect digital signals and protocols
bus sniffing	Observing communication on buses such as I²C, SPI, UART, or CAN

Attack Techniques

Term	Meaning
RCE (Remote Code Execution)	Running arbitrary code on a remote system
LPE (Local Privilege Escalation)	Gaining higher privileges from an already-compromised local account
DoS	Making a service or system unavailable
DDoS	A DoS attack carried out from many systems simultaneously
MITM	Intercepting communication between two parties
session hijacking	Taking over an already-authenticated session
credential stuffing	Trying leaked username/password pairs against other services
password spraying	Trying one or a few common passwords against many accounts
rainbow table	Precomputed hashes used to help recover passwords
hash cracking	Attempting to recover the original password from its hash
exfiltration	Stealing or transferring data out of a system
lateral movement	Moving from one compromised system/account to others
pivot	Using one compromised machine as a route to reach another network

Threat Intel & Malware

Term	Meaning
CVE	Public identifier assigned to a known software vulnerability
CVSS	Standardized scoring system for vulnerability severity
PoC	Proof-of-concept code demonstrating a vulnerability
rootkit	Software designed to maintain privileged access while hiding its presence
RAT	Remote Access Trojan — malware providing remote control
dropper	Malware whose main job is to install/deploy another payload
C2 / command and control	Infrastructure used by malware to communicate with its operator
persistence	Techniques used to survive reboot/logout and maintain access
OPSEC	Operational security — avoiding actions that reveal an attacker or operation
IOC	Indicator of Compromise — evidence a system may have been compromised
TTPs	Tactics, Techniques and Procedures used by an attacker

Exploit Development

Term	Meaning
ROP	Return-Oriented Programming — chaining existing code snippets for unintended behavior
shellcode	Machine code designed to perform an action after exploitation
heap spray	Filling heap memory with controlled data to influence exploitation
ASLR	Randomizes memory addresses to make exploitation harder
DEP / NX	Prevents execution of code from certain memory regions
use-after-free	Accessing memory after it has already been freed
double free	Freeing the same memory allocation more than once
type confusion	Treating one data type as another in an unsafe way
memory corruption	Unintentionally modifying memory, often leading to crashes or exploitation

Hacker Culture Slang

Term	Meaning
pwned / pwn	Successfully compromised or taken control of
owned / 0wned	Same meaning — older stylization from hacker culture
pwnage	Slang for a successful compromise or domination
1337 / leet	"Elite," written using numbers/symbols
n00b	Inexperienced user
white hat	Ethical/security researcher
black hat	Malicious attacker
grey hat	Operates between white-hat and black-hat boundaries