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Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms – The ABCs of MDR and XDR Security

By Nirav Shah

In the second part of this blog series on Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms, we covered Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) solutions, which included an overview of the evolution of endpoint security solutions. In this blog, we’ll go over Managed Detection and Response (MDR) and Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions in more depth.

What are Managed Detection and Response (MDR) solutions? 

MDR solutions are a security technology stack delivered as a managed service to customers by third-parties such as cybersecurity vendors or Managed Service Providers (MSPs). They’re similar to Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) solutions since both solutions are managed cybersecurity services that use Security Operations Center (SOC) experts to monitor, detect, and respond to threats targeting your organization. However, the main difference between these two offerings is that MEDR solutions monitor only your endpoints while MDR solutions monitor a broader environment.

While MDR security solutions don’t have an exact definition for the types of infrastructure they monitor and the underlying security stack that powers them, they often monitor your endpoint, network, and cloud environments via a ‘follow the sun’ approach that uses multiple security teams distributed around the world to continually defend your environment. These security analysts monitor your environment 24/7 for threats, analyze and prioritize threats, investigate potential incidents, and offer guided remediation of attacks. This enables you to quickly detect advanced threats, effectively contain attacks, and rapidly respond to incidents.

More importantly, MDR security solutions allow you to augment or outsource your security to cybersecurity experts. While nearly every organization must defend their environment from cyberattacks, not every organization has the time, expertise, or personnel to run their own security solution. These organizations can benefit from outsourcing their security to MDR services, which enable them to focus on their core business while getting the security expertise they need. In addition, some organizations don’t have the budget or resources to monitor their environment 24/7 or they may have a small security team that struggles to investigate every threat. MDR security services can also help these organizations by giving them always-on security operations while enabling them to address every threat to their organization.

One drawback to deploying an MDR security service is that you become dependent on a third-party for your security needs. While many organizations don’t have any issues with this, some organizations may be hesitant to hand over control of their cybersecurity to a third-party vendor. In addition, organizations such as larger, more-risk averse companies may not desire an MDR service because they’ve already made cybersecurity investments such as developing their own SOC. Finally, MDR security solutions don’t have truly unified detection and response capabilities since they’re typically powered by heterogenous security technology stacks that lack consolidated telemetry, correlated detections, and holistic incident response. This is where XDR solutions shine.

What are Extended Detection and Response (XDR) solutions? 

XDR solutions unify threat monitoring, detection, and response across your entire environment by centralizing visibility, delivering contextual insights, and coordinating response. While ‘XDR’ means different things to different people because it’s a fairly nascent technology, XDR solutions usually consolidate security telemetry from multiple security products into a single solution. Moreover, XDR security solutions provide enriched context by correlating alerts from different security solutions. Finally, comprehensive XDR solutions can simplify incident response by allowing you to automate and orchestrate threat response across your environment.

These solutions speed up threat detection and response by providing a single pane of glass for gaining visibility into threats as well as detecting and responding to attacks. Furthermore, XDR security solutions reduce alert fatigue and false positives with actionable, contextual insights from higher-fidelity detections that mean you spend less time sifting through endless alerts and can focus on the most critical threats. Finally, XDR solutions enable you to streamline your security operations with improved efficiency from automated, orchestrated response across your entire security stack from one unified console.

A major downside to XDR security solutions is that you typically have to deploy and manage these solutions yourself versus having a third-party vendor run them for you. While Managed XDR (MXDR) services are growing, these solutions are still very much in their infancy. In addition, not every organization will want or need a full-fledged XDR solution. For instance, organizations with a higher risk threshold may be satisfied with using an EDR solution and/or an MDR service to defend their organization from threats.

Choosing the Right Cybersecurity Solution  

As I mentioned in the first and second parts of this blog series, you shouldn’t take a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to cybersecurity since every organization has different needs, goals, risk appetites, staffing levels, and more. This logic holds true for MDR and XDR solutions, with these solutions working well for certain organizations and not so well for other organizations. Regardless, there are a few aspects to consider when evaluating MDR and XDR security solutions.

One factor to keep in mind is if you already have or are planning on building out your own SOC. This is important to think about because developing and operating a SOC can require large investments in cybersecurity, which includes having the right expertise on your security teams. Organizations unwilling to make these commitments usually end up choosing managed security services such as MDR solutions, which allows them to protect their organization without considerable upfront investments.

Other critical factors to consider are your existing security maturity and overall goals. For instance, organizations who have already made significant commitments to cybersecurity often think about ways to improve the operational efficiency of their security teams. These organizations frequently turn to XDR tools since these solutions reduce threat detection and response times, provide better visibility and context while decreasing alert fatigue. Moreover, organizations with substantial security investments should consider open and extensible XDR solutions that integrate with their existing tools to avoid having to ‘rip and replace’ security tools, which can be costly and cumbersome.

I hope this blog series on the different threat detection and response solutions help you make sense of the different cybersecurity acronyms while guiding you in your decision on the right security solution for your organization. For more information on MDR solutions, read about how Cisco Secure Managed Detection and Response (MDR) rapidly detects and contains threats with an elite team of security experts. For more information on XDR solutions, learn how the Cisco XDR offering finds and remediates threats faster with increased visibility and critical context to automate threat response.


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Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms: The ABCs of EDR and MEDR Security

By Nirav Shah

In the first part of this blog series on Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms, we provided a high-level overview of the different threat detection and response solutions and went over how to find the right solution for your organization. In this blog, we’ll do a deeper dive on two of these solutions – Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) and Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR). However, first let’s take a look back at the history of endpoint security solutions and understand how we got EDR and MEDR security solutions.

Evolution of endpoint security solutions

The very first endpoint security solutions started out as anti-virus solutions (AV) with basic security functionality that relied heavily on signature-based detection. These solutions were effective against known threats where a signature was created, but ineffective against unknown threats such as new and emerging attacks. That meant that organizations struggled to stay ahead of attackers, who were continuously evolving their techniques to evade detection with new types of malware.

To address this problem, AV vendors added detection technologies such as heuristics, reputational analysis, behavioral protection, and even machine learning to their solutions, which became known as Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP). These unified solutions were effective against both known and unknown threats and frequently used multiple approaches to prevent malware and other attacks from infecting endpoints.

As cyberattacks grew increasingly sophisticated though, many in the cybersecurity industry recognized that protection against threats wasn’t enough. Effective endpoint security had to include detection and response capabilities to quickly investigate and remediate the inevitable security breach. This led to the creation of EDR security solutions, which focused on post-breach efforts to contain and clean up attacks on compromised endpoints.

Today, most endpoint security vendors combine EPP and EDR solutions into a single, converged solution that provides holistic defense to customers with protection, detection, and response capabilities. Many vendors are also offering EDR as a managed service (also known as MEDR) to customers who need help in securing their endpoints or who don’t have the resources to configure and manage their own EDR solution. Now that we’ve gone over how endpoint security evolved into EDR and MEDR security solutions, let’s cover EDR and MEDR in more depth.

Figure 1: History of Endpoint Security Solutions

What are Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions?

EDR solutions continuously monitor your endpoints for threats, alert you in case suspicious activity is detected, and allow you to investigate, respond to and contain potential attacks. Moreover, many EDR security solutions provide threat hunting functionality to help you proactively spot threats in your environment. They’re often coupled with or part of a broader endpoint security solution that also includes prevention capabilities via an EPP solution to protect against the initial incursion.

As a result, EDR security solutions enable you to protect your organization from sophisticated attacks by rapidly detecting, containing, and remediating threats on your endpoints before they gain a foothold in your environment. They give you deep visibility into your endpoints while effectively identifying both known and unknown threats. Furthermore, you can quickly contain attacks that get through your defenses with automated response capabilities and hunt for hidden threats that are difficult to detect.

While EDR provides several benefits to customers, it has some drawbacks. Chief among them is that EDR security solutions are focused on monitoring endpoints only versus monitoring a broader environment. This means that EDR solutions don’t detect threats targeting other parts of your environment such as your network, email, or cloud infrastructure. In addition, not every organization has the security staff, budget, and/or skills to deploy and run an EDR solution. This is where MEDR solutions come into play.

What are Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) solutions?

Managed EDR or MEDR solutions are EDR capabilities delivered as a managed service to customers by third-parties such as cybersecurity vendors or Managed Service Providers (MSPs). This includes key EDR functionality such as monitoring endpoints, detecting advanced threats, rapidly containing threats, and responding to attacks. These third-parties usually have a team of Security Operations Center (SOC) specialists who monitor, detect, and respond to threats across your endpoints around the clock via a ‘follow the sun’ approach to monitoring.

MEDR security solutions allow you to offload the work of securing your endpoints to a team of security professionals. Many organizations need to defend their endpoints from advanced threats but don’t necessarily have the desire, resources, or expertise to manage an EDR solution. In addition, a team of dedicated SOC experts with advanced security tools can typically detect and respond to threats faster than in-house security teams, all while investigating every incident and prioritizing the most critical threats. This enables you to focus on your core business while getting always-on security operations.

Similar to EDR though, one downside to MEDR security solutions is that they defend only your endpoints from advanced threats and don’t monitor other parts of your infrastructure. Moreover, while many organizations want to deploy EDR as a managed service, not everyone desires this. For example, larger and/or more risk-averse organizations who are looking to invest heavily in cybersecurity are typically satisfied with running their own EDR solution. Now, let’s discuss how to choose the right endpoint security solution when trying to defend your endpoints from threats.

Choosing the Right Endpoint Security Solution

As I mentioned in my previous blog, there isn’t a single correct solution for every organization. This logic applies to EDR and MEDR security solutions as well since each solution works well for different types of organizations, depending on their needs, resources, motivations, and more. Nevertheless, one major factor to consider is if you have or are willing to build out a SOC for your organization. This is important because organizations that don’t have or aren’t willing to develop a SOC usually gravitate towards MEDR solutions, which don’t require significant investments in cybersecurity.

Another factor to keep in mind is your security expertise. Even if you’re have or are willing to build a SOC, you may not have the right cybersecurity talent and skills within your organization. While you can always build out your security team, you may want to evaluate an MEDR solution because a lack of expertise makes it difficult to effectively manage an EDR solution. Finally, a common misconception is that you must choose between an EDR and a MEDR solution and that you cannot run both solutions. In reality, many organizations end up using both EDR and MEDR since MEDR solutions often complement EDR deployments.

I hope this information and key factors help you better understand EDR and MEDR solutions while acting as a guide to selecting the best endpoint security solution for your organization. For more details on the different cybersecurity acronyms and how to identify the right solution for your needs, stay tuned for the next blog in this series – Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms: The ABCs of MDR and XDR Security. In the meantime, learn how Cisco Secure Endpoint stops threats with a comprehensive endpoint security solution that includes both advanced EDR and MEDR capabilities powered by an integrated security platform!


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Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms: The ABCs of Endpoint Security

By Nirav Shah

Ransomware and other advanced attacks continue to evolve and threaten organizations around the world. Effectively defending your endpoints from these attacks can be a complex undertaking, and a seemingly endless number of security acronyms only compounds that complexity. There are so many acronyms – EPP, EDR, MEDR, MDR, XDR, and more – for various cybersecurity products and services that it becomes difficult to understand the differences between them and choose the right solution for your organization. Deciphering all these acronyms is a task on its own and deciding which solution works best for you is even more challenging.

We here at Cisco believe that understanding these acronyms and determining which security products or services are the best fit for your organization’s needs doesn’t have to be so hard. That’s why we developed this blog – the first in a series – to give you an overview of the different types of threat detection and response solutions.

This series will help you understand the benefits and disadvantages of each solution, the similarities and differences between these solutions, and how to identify the right solution for your organization. Now let’s go over the different types of security solutions.

Overview of Threat Detection and Response Solutions

There are several types of threat detection and response solutions, including:

  • Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) A product that monitors, detects, and responds to threats across your endpoint environment
  • Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) A managed service operated by a third-party that monitors, detects, and responds to threats across your endpoint environment
  • Managed Detection and Response (MDR) A managed service operated by a third-party that monitors, detects, and responds to threats across your cybersecurity environment
  • Extended Detection and Response (XDR) A security platform that monitors, detects, and responds to threats across your cybersecurity environment with consolidated telemetry, unified visibility and coordinated response

These solutions are similar in that they all enable you to detect and respond to threats, but they differ by the environment(s) being monitored for threats, who conducts the monitoring, as well as how alerts are consolidated and correlated. For instance, certain solutions will only monitor your endpoints (EDR, MEDR) while others will monitor a broader environment (XDR, MDR). In addition, some of these solutions are actually managed services where a third-party monitors your environment (MEDR, MDR) versus solutions that you monitor and manage yourself (EDR, XDR).

How to Select the Right Solution for your Organization

When evaluating these solutions, keep in mind that there isn’t a single correct solution for every organization. This is because each organization has different needs, security maturities, resource levels, and goals. For example, deploying an EDR makes sense for an organization that currently has only a basic anti-virus solution, but this seems like table stakes to a company that already has a Security Operations Center (SOC).

That being said, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to find the cybersecurity solution that best fits your needs, including:

  • What are our security goals? Where are we in our cybersecurity journey?
  • Do we have a SOC or want to build a SOC?
  • Do we have the right cybersecurity talent, skills, and knowledge?
  • Do we have enough visibility and context into security incidents? Do we suffer from too many alerts and/or too many security tools?
  • How long does it take us to detect and respond to threats? Is that adequate?

Of these questions, the most critical are about your security goals and current cybersecurity posture. For instance, organizations at the beginning of their security journey may want to look at an EDR or MEDR solution, while companies that are further along their journey are more likely to be interested in an XDR. Asking whether you already have or are willing to build out a SOC is another essential question. This will help you understand whether you should run your security yourself (EDR, XDR) or find a third-party to manage it for you (MEDR, MDR).

Asking whether you have or are willing to hire the right security talent is another critical question to pose. This will also help determine whether to manage your cybersecurity solution yourself or have a third-party run it for you. Finally, questions about visibility and context, alert, and security tool fatigue, as well as detection and response times will help you to decide if your current security stack is sufficient or if you need to deploy a next-generation solution such as an XDR.

These questions will help guide your decision-making process and give you the information you need to make an informed decision on your cybersecurity solution. For more details on the different endpoint security acronyms and how to determine the right solution for your organization, keep an eye out for the next blog in this series – Unscrambling Cybersecurity Acronyms: The ABCs of EDR and MEDR. Stay tuned!

 

 


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Teen Slang and Texting Acronyms Parents Should Know

By Toni Birdsong

If you pick up your teen’s phone on any given day, chances are the next stop you make will be Google. That’s because, if you’re like most parents, you’re beyond baffled by texting language kids use.  

It’s okay, you are not alone if you feel out of the loop. As parents, we’re not invited to the party—and that’s okay. Slag belongs to the generation that coined it. And few of us are aching to use words like “sus” and “simp,” right? The goal of these updates isn’t to decode or invade.  It’s digital parenting 101. The more we know about what’s going on in our child’s world, the better we can parent. It’s our job to know 

So once a year we do our best to decipher some of the more common terms you may hear or see your kids use. Keep in mind: Slang isn’t universal. It changes from city to city and culture to culture. Terms and meanings may vary. Many of the words are fun and harmless, while others are specifically meant to mask risky behavior.  Remember, McAfee frees you to live your connected life safe from threats like viruses, malware, phishing, and more. Download award-winning antivirus that protects your data and devices today.

Here are a sampling of terms, acronyms, and phrases we came across this year*. 

Terms, Phrases & Acronyms

A real one. A person who is being authentic, genuine, trusted. 

And I oop. A phrase used after a funny mistake or accident.  

Awks. Short for awkward.  

Baddie. Name for an independent female who is tough and beautiful. 

Bands. Refers to bands around cash or a wealthy person. No doubt, the dude’s got bands 

Bet. A willingness to do something; means “yes” or “okay.”  

Big yikes. When you see something, that is a huge embarrassment.  

Booed up. To be in a romantic relationship. 

Bop. A really good song. That song is such a bop! 

Bread or Cheddar. Terms that refer to money.  

Breadcrumbing. Sending flirtatious text messages to another person to get their attention but remain non-committal. 

Bussin. Something is awesome. Her new hair color is bussin’. 

Cake. When someone’s body looks good. The girl in my science class has cake.  

Cancel. Reject or stop supporting a group or idea.  

Cap. A term that means “lie” or “false.” He said we were a couple. Cap! 

No cap. A phrase that means “no lie” or “for real” emphasizes telling the truth. I just saw him eat a bug. No cap! 

CEO. A term used to describe something that you’re very good at, making you the CEO of it. I’m the CEO of being late to class.  

Cheug. This term describes a person, idea, or situation that is outdated or inauthentic.  

Clout. A term that relates to a person’s follower count, fame, or influencer status. Sometimes an expression for an extravagant way of living.  

Chasing Clout. A term that describes a person who does and says things for the sole purpose of becoming more popular. 

Curve. To reject someone romantically. 

Cuffing. Wanting to date or cuff yourself to someone temporarily—at least until summer break.  

Do it for the gram. A phrase that describes someone doing something for the sole purpose of posting online. 

Drip. A term that describes someone’s style as sexy or cool. Zayne has some serious drip.  

Facts. When you agree with someone.  

Finsta. A second Instagram account used for sharing with a smaller circle of friends and followers.  

Fish. Fishing for compliments. 

Fit. Short for outfit. 

Flex. To show off or show something off.  

Get after it. Start with something with intensity. 

Ghost. Suddenly stop all contact with someone online and in person. 

Hundo P. Being 100% certain.  

Hypebeast. A term that describes someone who cares too much about popular things rather than being self-aware and genuine. 

I’m dead. Describes how you feel when something is hilarious. 

I’m weak. Like, dead, describes how you feel when something is hilarious. 

I can’t even. An expression used when you’ve had enough of someone or a situation.  

Keep it 100. Stay true to yourself and stick to your values. 

Lewk. Look.  

Left on read. When someone does not respond to your text. He left me on read! 

Lit. Cool or awesome. 

Mood. A term used to express a relatable feeling or experience. Seeing that kid by himself kicking a can is such a mood. 

Mutuals. People who follow and support one another on social media.  

Oof. An expression used when something bad happens, and you don’t know how to respond.  

Periodt. A term used to emphasize what you just said.  

Purr. Expressing approval. I’ve got nothing but purr for my friends.  

Receipts. Evidence to prove someone is either lying. Often in the form of screenshots, videos, or images.  

Savage. A cool person or someone overly direct or candid. 

Sketch. A sketchy or ominous situation, place, or person.  

Skrrt. To leave quickly or get away from someone (the sound a car makes).   

Ship. Short for relationship.  

Simp. Used to describe a guy who is seen as being too attentive and submissive to a girl.  

Sheesh. A term used to compliment someone when they look good or do something good.  

Suh. A combination of “sup” and “huh” used as a greeting. 

Sus. Short for suspect describing a situation, a person, or a claim. That guy is sus. Let’s get out of here.  

Shawty. An attractive female. Sometimes a short, attractive female.  

Sheee. An expression of disappointment, annoyance, or surprise. 

Slaps. A term used when something is awesome. The DJ slaps. 

Snatched. Describing a person or a thing that looks great. I’m jealous her makeup is so snatched.  

Stan. A combination of “stalker” and “fan” refers to an overly obsessed fan of a celebrity.  

Straight Fire or Fire. Describes something amazing. His new truck is straight fire. 

Thumpin’. Word to describe someone going very. I didn’t even see him leave. He was thumpin’. 

Vaguebooking. The act of posting vague Facebook or other social status updates for attention or as a cry for help. Wondering what the point of it all is anyway. 

Whip. A word that means car. Have you seen his new whip? 

Wig. When something has you so excited, your wig might come off; mind-blowing. The new Adele song!! WIIIIGGG! 

Yeet. Throwing something out of rage. Also used as an exclamation for being excited.  

NGL. Not Gonna Lie. 

NMH. Nodding My Head; an expression of agreement.  

NSA. No Strings Attached.  

HWU. Hey, what’s up? 

IYKWIM. If You Know What I Mean.  

RLY. Really? 

OG.Short for Original Gangster;a compliment for someone who is exceptional or authentic. 

ORLY. Oh really?

SMH. Shaking My Head. 

TFW. That Feeling When 

TT2T. Too Tired to Talk.  

L. Short for loose or loss. 

V. Short for very. 

W. Short for win. Their loss is our w.   

WYA. Where are you at? 

WYD. What are you doing? 

YK. You’re Kidding.

YKTS. You Know the Score. 

YKTV. You know the vibe.
 

(Potentially) Risky Terms & Acronyms

Addy/Study Buddy. Terms used in place of the medication Adderal.

Break Green. A term that means to share marijuana with others. 

Crashy. Combo of “crazy” and “trashy.”  

Daddy. An attractive man, usually older, who conveys a sense of power and dominance.

Faded/Cooked. Terms used to describe being high on drugs.  

Lit/Turnt Up. It can mean party or get drunk.  

MOS/POS. Mom Over Shoulder; Parent Over Shoulder.

Kush/Flower/Gas. Terms used in place of marijuana. 

Smash. To hook up for casual sex. Is he a smash or a pass? 

Thirsty. Adjective for a person desperate for attention or sex. 

Xan/Xans. Terms short for Xanax, a sedative used to treat anxiety. Also called xanny, beans, bars, and footballs. 

ASL. Age/sex/location. 

CD9. Can’t talk parents are here. 

CU46. See You For Sex. 

GALMA. Go Away Leave Me Alone.  

GOMB. Get Off My Back.  

GSW. Get Some Weed.  

LMIRL. Let’s meet in Real Life. 

KMS/KYS. Kill myself, Kill Yourself. 

ONG. On God; a term that implies a person is serious enough to swear “on god.” 

ONS. One Night Stand. 

Spice or K2. Code for synthetic marijuana, which can be more harmful than actual cannabis.  

URAL. You’re A Loser. 

WWTP. Want to Trade Pics? 

X or E. Letters that stand for ecstasy, otherwise known as “molly” or MDMA.  

Zaddy. A well-dressed, attractive man of any age. 

Zerg. A term that originated in the gaming community for gamers using the many against one strategy to win a game. A Zerg is a person who employs the same bullying tactics in real life. Stay away from him. He’s such a Zerg! Or Stay off that site. There’s too much zerging.  

Protect your connected life today with McAfee Total Protection

*Content collected from various sources, including NetLingo.com, slangit.com, cyberdefinitions.com, UrbanDictionary.com, webopedia.com, and conversations on TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube.  

The post Teen Slang and Texting Acronyms Parents Should Know appeared first on McAfee Blog.

Can You Decode Your Teen’s Texting Language?

By Toni Birdsong
texting slang

It’s hard to believe, right, parents? In just a blink or two, you went from being the teenager dropping cool phrases like “rad” and “gnarly” to monitoring a teenager texting words like “lowkey,” “IRL” and “CD9” into her smartphone non-stop.*

For generations, teens have been crafting terms to differentiate themselves from other age groups. The difference today is that smartphone texting has multiplied the scope of that code to include words, emojis, numbers, and hashtags.

The times have changed, fo’ sho.’

Digital Deciphering

You don’t have to speak your child’s language (please don’t). However, with new terms and risks emerging online each day, it’s a good idea to at least understand what they are saying.

Since kids have been spending more time online due to the pandemic, we thought we might discover a few new and interesting terms. We were right. We found stories of teens referring to the Coronavirus as “Miss Rona” and “Rona,” and abbreviating quarantine to “Quar.” A “Corona Bae” is the person you would only plan to date during a lockdown.

Much of the coded language kids use is meant to be funny, sarcastic, or a quick abbreviation. However, there are times when a text exchange can slip into risky territory. Seemingly harmless, text exchanges can spark consequences such as bullying, sextortion, privacy violations, and emotional or physical harm.

Stay Connected

To help kids avoid dangerous digital situations, we recommend three things: 1) Talk early and often with your kids about digital risk and behavior expectations, 2) Explore and use parental monitoring software, and 3) Know your child’s friends and communities online and in real life.

Note: Context is everything. Many of these terms are used in jest or as casual banter. Be sure to understand the context in which a word is used.

A Few Terms You May See **

Flex. This term means showing off. For example, “Look at her trying to flex with her new car.”

Crashy. Description of a person who is thought to be both crazy and trashy.

Clap back. A comeback filled with attitude.

Cringey. Another word for embarrassing.

Hop off. Mind your own business.

Spill tea or Kiki. Dishing gossip.

Sip tea. Listening to gossip.

Salty. Mad, angry, jealous, bitter, upset, or irritated.

“She gave me a salty look in class.”

Extra. Over the top or unnecessarily dramatic.

Left on read. Not replying to someone’s message.

Ghosting. Ending a friendship or relationship online with no explanation.

Neglext. Abandon someone in the middle of a text conversation.

Ok, Boomer. Dismissing someone who is not up to date enough.

(Throw) shade. Insult or trash talk discreetly.

Receipts. Getting digital proof, usually in the form of screenshots.

THOT. Acronym for That H__ Over There.

Thirsty. A term describing a person as desperate or needy. “Look at her staring at him — she’s so thirsty.”

Thirst trap. A sexy photograph or message posted on social media.

Dis. Short for showing blatant disrespect.

Preeing. A word that describes stalking or being stalked on Facebook.

Basic. Referring to a person as mainstream, nothing special. Usually used in a negative connotation.

Chasing Clout. A negative term describing someone trying too hard to get followers on social media.

9, CD9, or Code9, PAW, POS. Parents are around, over the shoulder.

99. All clear, the parents are gone. Safe to resume texting or planning.

KPC. Keeping parents clueless.

Cheddar, Cheese, or Bread. These are all terms that mean money.

Cap. Means to lie as in “she’s capping.” Sending the baseball cap emoji expresses the same feeling. No capping means “I’m not lying.”

Hundo P. Term that is short for “hundred percent;” absolutely, for sure.

Woke. Aware of and outspoken on current on political and social issues.

And I oop. Lighthearted term to describe a silly mistake.

Big oof. A slightly bigger mistake.

Yeet. An expression of excitement. For example, “He kissed me. Yeeeet!”

Retweet. Instead of saying, “yes, I agree,” you say, “retweet.”

Canceled. Absurd or foolish behavior is “canceled.” For example, “He was too negative on our date, so I canceled him.”

Slap or Snatched. Terms that mean fashionable or on point. For instance, “Those shoes are slap” or “You look snatched.”

And just for fun, here’s a laugh out loud video from comedian Seth Meyer’s on teen Coronavirus slang you’ll enjoy on YouTube.

* lowkey (a feeling you want to keep secret), IRL (In Real Life), CD9 also Code9 (Adult Alert used to hide secretive activity). ** Terms collected from various sources, including NetLingo.com, UrbanDictionary.com, webopedia.com, and from tweets and posts from teens online.

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