IT people do not mean to speak in initials. It just happens, usually mid-sentence, usually when you most want a straight answer. Here are the ones you will hear most, in English.
In short
Most jargon is a plain idea wearing a lab coat.
If someone cannot explain a term without using two more, ask again. That is a fair request.
You only need to know what each thing does for you, not how it works.
Signing in
MFA or 2FA. A password plus a second proof that it is you, usually a code or a tap on your phone. Probably the most useful security measure there is. Getting a new phone? Read this first.
SSO. Single sign-on. One sign-in opens all your work apps. Fewer passwords, and when somebody leaves, one switch shuts every door.
Password manager. An app that remembers every password, so that you only have to remember one.
Looking after the computers
MDM. Mobile device management. How we set up, update and, if it is stolen, wipe a Mac or phone from a distance. It manages the device. It does not read your messages.
Patching. Installing updates. Called patching because each one covers a hole.
Endpoint. Any device a person works on. Your laptop is an endpoint. So is your phone. We did not choose the word.
Admin rights. Permission to install software and change settings. Handy, and exactly what malicious software wants, which is why not everybody has them.
Where the work lives
The cloud. Somebody else's computers, in a building you will never visit, looked after by people whose whole job is keeping them running.
Sync. The same files kept identical in two places. Delete it here and it is deleted there, which is why sync is not backup.
Backup. A separate copy from an earlier moment that you can go back to. If you cannot restore from it, it is not a backup.
When things go wrong
Phishing. A message pretending to be from someone you trust, sent to get a password or a payment. Four small tells.
Ransomware. Software that locks your files and demands money for the key. A good backup turns it from a catastrophe into a bad week.
VPN. A private tunnel from your laptop to the office network, for when you are not in the office.
Downtime. The time something is not working. Measured in hours, felt in deadlines.
Heard one we missed?
Ask us. If we cannot explain it in a sentence, that is our problem and not yours. Talk to us, or see how we look after studios with managed IT services.