key word search
163555·updated Aug 30, 2026A content-inspection technique in which a system or analyst scans data in transit or at rest for the presence of pre-specified terms or strings in order to identify, classify, flag, or block that data based on its substance. It is distinguished from structural or metadata-based inspection by operating on the semantic content of a message or file rather than on headers, labels, or format characteristics — as NIST SP 800-171r3 illustrates by contrasting it with "using document characteristics" as an alternative basis for information-flow decisions. In security and privacy practice it is applied in controls such as data loss prevention (DLP), information-flow enforcement, e-discovery, and content filtering to surface regulated, sensitive, or policy-violating material in large data sets.
Source
(e.g., implementing key word searches or using document characteristics). Organizations also consider the trustworthiness of filtering and inspection mechanisms (i.e., hardware, firmware, and software components) that are critical tothe sentence this term was read in
generalized from a web lookup of the quoted expression at proposal time Verdict: compositional.
- NIST Special Publication 800 NIST SP 800-171r3
- System and method for keyword searching using both static and dynamic dictionaries
A definition generalized from search results is a draft to react to, not provenance. Confirm it against an authority document before this term is verified.
A web lookup ran when this term was proposed
A content-inspection technique used within information flow enforcement and data loss prevention mechanisms to examine the substance of messages, files, or data streams by matching their text against a predefined set of significant terms. It operates on message content as one method of implementing content-based filtering, alongside approaches such as using document characteristics, to control whether information is permitted to cross a boundary; organizations pair it with assessments of the trustworthiness of the hardware, firmware, and software components performing that filtering. Keyword searching techniques are used across a wide variety of security applications — analyzing communication traffic to detect indicators of interest, identifying data leaking from an organization's network in outgoing traffic, and flagging illegitimate intrusion attempts in network traffic. In DLP and compliance contexts, it functions as one of the predefined criteria by which sensitive information is identified and classified.
Advisory only. A term this product ships is defined by an authority document, not by a search result.
Proposed during multiword review of this document in the CKI mapping queue.
Attested in
Classifications
Entity Type
Sensitivity
Information Class
Variants
- plural
- key word searches
- possessive
- key word search's
- pluralpossessive
- key word searches'
Framework definitions
- §1 · attested_usage_reviewer_confirmed
- No definition is given in NIST SP 800-171r3. The term is attested in use at 1 citation in that document; a definition is pending curation.Increment 2: attested in 800-171r3 without a glossary definition.
- §1 · web_lookup_draft
- A content-inspection technique in which a system or analyst scans data in transit or at rest for the presence of pre-specified terms or strings in order to identify, classify, flag, or block that data based on its substance. It is distinguished from structural or metadata-based inspection by operating on the semantic content of a message or file rather than on headers, labels, or format characteristics — as NIST SP 800-171r3 illustrates by contrasting it with "using document characteristics" as an alternative basis for information-flow decisions. In security and privacy practice it is applied in controls such as data loss prevention (DLP), information-flow enforcement, e-discovery, and content filtering to surface regulated, sensitive, or policy-violating material in large data sets.DR-088 backfill from the noun definition column