Okuzeka
Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

Mitigate

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/ˈmɪtɪɡeɪt/verbCore term

In software engineering, mitigate means: To reduce the likelihood or impact of a risk or attack when it cannot be removed completely, for example with a workaround or an extra control.

In Turkish: azaltmak, hafifletmek, etkisini düşürmek

How it is used

Used constantly in advisories and risk registers: a vendor 'provides mitigations' until a patch is ready, and a team 'mitigates the risk'. The noun is mitigation; 'DDoS mitigation' means filtering out attack traffic.

Example sentences

  1. Until the patch is out, we can mitigate the issue by disabling the vulnerable feature.

  2. MFA mitigates the risk of stolen passwords but does not remove it.

Common collocations

  • mitigate a risk
  • mitigating control
  • risk mitigation
  • temporary mitigation
  • remediationThe work of fixing a security problem at its source, such as applying a patch, changing a configuration or rewriting vulnerable code.
  • riskThe chance that a threat will use a weakness and cause harm, combined with how serious that harm would be for the organisation.
  • security controlAny safeguard, whether technical, administrative or physical, that reduces a security risk, such as a firewall, a policy, a training course or a locked door.
  • patchA small update that fixes bugs or security problems in software without adding big new features. It is also a verb: to patch a system.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: