The KBY Lexicon

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a defined contract letting software components exchange requests and data; correctness depends on versioning, authentication scope and validated error handling.

XML is a text-based markup language that encodes hierarchical data using nested elements and attributes, validated against schemas, and used for configuration, data interchange and document structuring across systems.

YAML is a human-readable data serialisation format used for configuration files and structured data exchange; its indentation-based syntax requires disciplined validation because whitespace errors silently change meaning.

JSON is a lightweight, text-based data-interchange format using key-value pairs and ordered lists; validate structure with a schema and strict parser before consuming untrusted input in any workflow.

GraphQL is a query language and runtime for APIs that lets clients request precisely the fields they need from a single endpoint, reducing over-fetching but requiring careful schema, depth and cost governance to avoid abuse.

REST is an architectural style for networked APIs using stateless requests, uniform resource identifiers and standard HTTP methods; correct use requires idempotency awareness, versioning discipline and explicit validation before any state-changing call.

HTTPS is HTTP communicated through a secured connection whose authenticated encryption protects data in transit. Operational success requires a valid endpoint identity, trusted protocol configuration and end-to-end validation; HTTPS does not by itself secure the application.

HTTP is a stateless application-level protocol for exchanging request and response messages. A safe HTTP workflow constrains its target, records request and response evidence, defines observable success and avoids assuming that transport success proves application success.

MFA (multi-factor authentication) requires two or more independent credential factors to verify identity, reducing single-credential compromise risk; deployment demands careful factor selection, enrolment recovery paths and bounded rollout testing.

Conditional Access is a policy engine that evaluates sign-in signals and enforces access controls in real time; safe rollout requires report-only validation, explicit scope, and a documented rollback path before enforcement.

Microsoft Defender is Microsoft's endpoint security platform providing threat protection, detection and response; teams validate policy changes in a test group before wide rollout, with defined rollback via policy reversion.

Vulnerability management is the continuous process of identifying, prioritising and remediating security weaknesses across systems, using scan evidence, risk scoring and tracked remediation to reduce exploitable exposure over time.