Defense in depth

nounverified·updated May 9, 2026

GlossaryL1 — what DictionaryL2 — how used ThesaurusL3 — relations Universaleverything

The practice of layering defenses to provide added protection Defense in depth increases security by raising the effort needed in an attack. This strategy places multiple barriers between an attacker and an enterprise's computing and information resources.

MWEISACA Cybersecurity Glossary

Senses

2 more senses beyond the canonical

SANS Glossary of Security Terms

Defense In-Depth is the approach of using multiple layers of security to guard against failure of a single security component.

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) IT Examination Handbook Infobase, Glossary

Information security strategy integrating people, technology, and operations capabilities to establish variable barriers across multiple layers and dimensions of the organization.

Classifications

per-axis with provenance

Entity Type

Capability90%rule-basedr:entity.capability.service.v1

?unassignedlast reviewed —

Sensitivity

unclassified

Information Class

unclassified

Variants

11 surface forms

alternatephrasing: Defense In-DepthDefense-in-Depth
plural: Defense in depthsDefense In-DepthsDefense-in-Depths
possessive: Defense in depth'sDefense In-Depth'sDefense-in-Depth's
pluralpossessive: Defense in depths'Defense In-Depths'Defense-in-Depths'

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