The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defines a computer security incident as a real or potential violation of an explicit or implied policy regarding information. The DHS has five incident types, based on incident outcomes: (1) increased access beyond authorization; (2) information disclosure; (3) information corruption; (4) Denial of Service (DoS); and (5) resource theft. The DHS notes that actual incidents often fall into multiple categories. For example, a Website defacement can involve increased access beyond authorization and information corruption, and a system compromise can involve increased access beyond authorization, information disclosure, and resource theft.

See Also: Denial of Service (DoS); Department of Homeland Security (DHS); Exploit; Vulnerabilities of Computers.