Core terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Reentrancy | Re-entering a function via an external call before its state is updated, enabling repeated withdrawals. |
| MEV | Maximal Extractable Value: profit a block producer or searcher can extract by reordering, inserting or censoring transactions. |
| Sandwich attack | An MEV tactic that places one transaction before and one after a victim's trade to profit from the induced price movement. |
| TWAP | Time-Weighted Average Price: an oracle method resistant to single-block price manipulation. |
| Flash loan | An uncollateralized loan repaid within the same transaction, often used to amplify manipulation. |
| delegatecall | A call that runs another contract's code in the caller's storage context; dangerous if the target is untrusted. |
| Checks-Effects-Interactions | A pattern: validate inputs, update state, then interact with external contracts. |
| PDA | Program Derived Address on Solana; must be validated with the correct seeds and bump. |
| Signer check | On Solana, verifying an account actually signed the transaction before trusting it. |
| SWC | Smart Contract Weakness Classification, a registry of known weakness types. |
OSINT & tooling terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| OSINT | Open-Source Intelligence: gathering data from publicly available sources. |
| WHOIS | Protocol for querying domain/IP registration records (registrar, dates, owner). |
| RDAP | Registration Data Access Protocol: the modern, JSON-based successor to WHOIS. |
| DNS / DoH | Domain Name System; DoH resolves DNS over encrypted HTTPS. |
| CVE | Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: a public ID for a known security flaw. |
| ASN | Autonomous System Number: identifies a network on the internet (e.g. an ISP). |
| BGP | Border Gateway Protocol: how networks announce routes/prefixes between each other. |
| Reverse DNS (PTR) | Maps an IP address back to a hostname via a PTR record. |
| AES-256 / PBKDF2 | Strong symmetric cipher; PBKDF2 derives a key from a password with many iterations. |
| Shodan InternetDB | Free passive index of open ports, tags and CVEs observed for an IP. |
| EONET / USGS | NASA natural-event feed and US Geological Survey earthquake feed (real-time). |