Terms
Preferred Words
Use the preferred words below to keep nomenclature consistent throughout Signal Sciences.
DO
engineers, engineering, eng
security
allow
block
charts
default
IPs
sign in, sign out
users
weekly summary
DON’T
developers, development
cybersecurity
whitelist
blacklist
graphs
preset
email address, e-mail
IP addresses
log in, log out
members
weekly digest, week in review
Company
DO
Use "company". You can also use “organization” interchangeably with “company” since we have non-profit customers.
DON’T
Use "business" or "enterprise" unless the word is tied to a known phrase like “business logic” or “enterprise software.”
OWASP Top 10
DO
- OWASP Top 10 attacks.
DON’T
- OWASP injection attacks, when talking about our breadth of coverage (OK to talk about OWASP injection when talking about SQLi, RFI, Command Execution, XSS specifically)
- OWASP vulnerabilities
WAF
DO
- next-gen WAF
- next-gen web application firewall
DON’T
- NGWAF
- Next-Gen WAF
- Next-Generation Web Application Firewall (always shorten generation)
Brand Name: When to use “Signal Sciences” vs. “SigSci”
When to use “Signal Sciences”
Signal Sciences is still building brand awareness in the industry, so in most communications we should use the full brand name.
Usage Guidelines
- All corporate communications where we’re representing the brand to the outside world
- All communications with prospects since, and that “SigSci” be reserved for communications with customers, partners, and employees.
When to use “SigSci”
“SigSci” has emerged as a colloquial and affectionate way to refer to Signal Sciences. Using “SigSci” in communications implies a familiarity between the brand and the audience we’re speaking to, and should be used sparingly and intentionally.
Usage Guidelines
- Only use “SigSci” when communicating informally with existing customers, partners, and employees.
- Always capitalize as one word using camel case.
DO
- “SigSci”
DON’T
- “Sigsci"
- "Sig Sci”
Word Usage
Signal Sciences uses terms that are easy to mix up. Use the guidance below to choose the right word at the right time.
Alerts vs. Notifications
- "Notifications" are any product messages sent internally or externally.
- Externally, notifications are sent through integrations when an event happens (e.g., a Slack notification is sent when a new site is created).
- "Alerts" trigger notifications. They must first be configured before they can trigger a notification (e.g., agent alerts).
- Avoid using the word "subscriptions" to describe either alerts or notifications.
DO
Site integrations send notifications about flagged IPs and site rule changes
DON’T
Site integrations send alerts about flagged IPs and site rule changes
Events, Configurations, and Activity
“Events” are actions that Signal Sciences takes as the result of both system and templated rules. This includes any occurrence that happens on the Events page. Events are automatically system-generated.
DO
You can configure custom rules in Signal Sciences
DON’T
You can use the rules feature in Signal Sciences
“Configurations” are features that users can configure to meet their business needs. Configurations are always manually edited. They include: custom rules, lists, custom signals, alerts, integrations, site settings, custom dashboards, and user management.
DO
Signal Sciences saw 100 flagged IP events
DON’T
You can view custom rule events on the Audit Log
“Activity” refers to anything that happens in a site or corp. Use this term when you want to describe both configurations and events.
DO
Do you want to receive email notifications for all site activity?
DON’T
Do you want to receive email notifications for all site events?
Logging
“Logging” means that request data is collected and stored in Signal Sciences’ backend. Users can view this logged request data on the Events and Requests page. If a user sets their agent mode to not blocking, Signal Sciences will only log requests instead of logging and blocking them.
- If the request is tagged with an attack signal or CVE signal, Signal Sciences logs every request.
- If the request is tagged with an anomaly signal or custom signal, Signal Sciences logs a sample of requests.
- Learn more about sampling
When using the word “logging,” explicitly say whether Signal Sciences “logs a sample of requests” or “logs every request” whenever possible.
DO
Flag IP and log a sample of requests tagged with Login Attempt
DON’T
Flag IP and log requests tagged with Login Attempt
System, Custom, and Default
Use “System” for out-of-the-box features that users can’t edit or delete. System features usually have a “custom” equivalent. For example:
- System dashboards and custom dashboards
- System signals and custom signals
- System rules and custom rules
DO
- System
DON’T
- Preset
- Default
- Built-in
Use “Custom” to clarify or emphasize that a feature is user configurable, usually when there is a system equivalent. Knowing when to use this term is a case-by-case basis. Try not to overuse it or copy can start to look cluttered and repetitive.
DO
- Custom dashboards
- Custom signals
- Custom redactions
- Custom rules
DON’T
- Custom audit log
- Custom requests
Use “Default” for out-of-the-box configurations that we set for a user in advance, but can be edited or deleted by a user.
DO
The agent mode is set to “not blocking” by default
Default
DON’T
You can’t edit default signals
Preset
Tags vs. Signals
"Signals" are always nouns, while "tag" should only be used as a verb.
DO
Requests are tagged with signals
DON’T
Requests are tagged with tags