Technology vocabulary is doing a lot of work in contracts and board papers, and much of it is used loosely. Each entry below gives a short definition first, then enough explanation to make a decision with — what the term actually covers, where it applies in a Microsoft environment, and what usually goes wrong.
There are 25 terms across 10 categories.
Browse by category
AI and automation
Australian regulation
Cloud fundamentals
IT operations
Identity and access
Microsoft platform
Security frameworks
Security operations
Security platforms
All terms A–Z
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E
- Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)Endpoint detection and response continuously records process, file, registry and network activity on devices, applies behavioural analytics to detect attacks that signature-based antivirus misses, and gives responders the ability to investigate and to isolate a compromised endpoint remotely..
- Essential EightThe Essential Eight is a set of eight baseline cyber security mitigation strategies published by the Australian Signals Directorate.
- Exchange OnlineExchange Online is the hosted email service in Microsoft 365.
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- Managed Service Provider (MSP)A managed service provider delivers IT operations as an ongoing contracted service rather than hourly project work.
- Microsoft 365 BackupMicrosoft 365 backup means taking independent, restorable copies of Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams data.
- Microsoft 365 CopilotMicrosoft 365 Copilot is a generative AI assistant embedded in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams and the Microsoft 365 apps.
- Microsoft 365 TenantA Microsoft 365 tenant is a dedicated instance of Microsoft's cloud services created for one organisation.
- Microsoft DefenderMicrosoft Defender is Microsoft's security product family, delivered as Defender XDR.
- Microsoft Entra IDMicrosoft Entra ID, formerly Azure Active Directory, is Microsoft's cloud identity and access management service.
- Microsoft IntuneMicrosoft Intune is the cloud endpoint management service in Microsoft 365.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)Multi-factor authentication requires two or more independent proofs of identity before granting access: something you know, something you have, or something you are.
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- Security Operations Centre (SOC)A security operations centre is the team and tooling responsible for monitoring, detecting, investigating and responding to security events.
- Shared Responsibility ModelThe shared responsibility model defines the split of security and operational duties between a cloud provider and its customer.
- SharePoint OnlineSharePoint Online is the cloud document management and intranet platform in Microsoft 365.
- SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)A SIEM collects log and event data from across an environment, normalises it, and applies correlation rules and analytics to surface security incidents.
