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Cybersecurity vocabulary · Penetration Testing

Rules of engagement

Meaning in cybersecurity, with examples

phraseCommon term

In cybersecurity, rules of engagement means: The agreed conditions of a security test: what may be tested, when, with which methods and whom to contact if something goes wrong.

In Turkish: angajman kuralları, test kuralları, çalışma kuralları

How it is used

Signed before any penetration test or red team exercise starts, usually together with the scope document. Testers refer to it constantly: 'Is that within the rules of engagement?' Often shortened to RoE.

Example sentences

  1. Denial-of-service testing is not allowed under the rules of engagement.

  2. The rules of engagement say testing can only happen between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Common collocations

  • agree the rules of engagement
  • within the rules of engagement
  • scope document
  • out of scope
  • penetration testAn authorised, simulated attack on a system, application or network, carried out by security specialists to find weaknesses before real attackers do.
  • red teamA group of security specialists who act like real attackers, using any approved method, to test how well an organisation can detect and stop them.
  • ethical hackerA security professional who uses attackers' skills and methods, with the owner's written permission, to find and report weaknesses so that they can be fixed.
  • reconnaissanceThe first stage of an attack or security test, in which information about the target is gathered, such as domain names, staff, technologies and exposed services.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Penetration Testing

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