Security Breach

What Does Security Breach Mean?

A security breach is any incident that results in unauthorized access of data, applications, services, networks and/or devices by bypassing their underlying security mechanisms. A security breach occurs when an individual or an application illegitimately enters a private, confidential or unauthorized logical IT perimeter.

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A security breach is also known as a security violation.

Techopedia Explains Security Breach

A security breach is one of the earliest stages of a security attack by a malicious intruder, such as a hacker, cracker or nefarious application. Security breaches happen when the security policy, procedures and/or system are violated. Depending on the nature of the incident, a security breach can be anything from low-risk to highly critical.

In an organization, security breaches are typically monitored, identified and mitigated by a software or hardware firewall. If an intrusion, abnormality or violation is detected, the firewall issues a notification to the network or security administrator.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…