Skip to main content

Glossary

FieldValue
Document IDASCEND-REF-002
Version1.0.0
Last UpdatedDecember 19, 2025
AuthorAscend Engineering Team
PublisherOW-KAI Technologies Inc.
ClassificationEnterprise Client Documentation
ComplianceSOC 2 CC6.1/CC6.2, PCI-DSS 7.1/8.3, HIPAA 164.312, NIST 800-53 AC-2/SI-4

Reading Time: 5 minutes | Skill Level: All Levels

A​

Action​

An operation that an AI agent wants to perform. Actions are the fundamental unit of governance in ASCEND. Each action is evaluated, risk-assessed, and either approved or denied.

Agent​

An autonomous AI system that performs actions. Agents must be registered with ASCEND before submitting actions.

API Key​

A secret credential used to authenticate SDK and API requests. Keys are scoped to specific roles and permissions.

Approval Level​

A numeric value (1-5) indicating what role is required to approve an action. Higher levels require more senior approvers.

Audit Trail​

An immutable record of all actions, decisions, and events. Used for compliance and forensic analysis.

C​

CCPA​

California Consumer Privacy Act. ASCEND supports CCPA data rights including access, deletion, and opt-out.

Compliance Framework​

A set of regulatory requirements (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI-DSS) that ASCEND helps organizations meet.

Explicit permission from a data subject for specific data processing activities. Managed through the Data Rights API.

D​

Data Lineage​

A record of how data flows through systems, including source, destination, and processing purpose.

Data Subject Request (DSR)​

A formal request from an individual to access, correct, or delete their personal data under GDPR/CCPA.

Dead Letter Queue (DLQ)​

A queue for webhook deliveries that failed after all retry attempts.

E​

Evidence Pack​

A collection of audit records, logs, and documentation assembled for compliance audits.

G​

GDPR​

General Data Protection Regulation. EU privacy law that ASCEND supports through data rights APIs.

Governance​

The process of controlling and overseeing AI agent behavior to ensure safety, compliance, and alignment with organizational policies.

H​

Hash-Chaining​

A technique for ensuring audit log integrity by linking each record to the previous one via cryptographic hash.

HIPAA​

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. US healthcare privacy law that ASCEND supports.

I​

IDOR​

Insecure Direct Object Reference. A security vulnerability that ASCEND prevents through multi-tenant isolation.

Immutable Logging​

Audit records that cannot be modified or deleted, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

J​

JWT (JSON Web Token)​

A token format used for dashboard authentication. Contains user identity and permissions.

K​

Kill Switch​

An emergency control to immediately terminate an agent's ability to execute actions.

KMS (Key Management Service)​

AWS service used for encryption key management. ASCEND uses KMS for data encryption.

M​

MCP (Model Context Protocol)​

A standard protocol for AI models to interact with external tools. ASCEND provides governance for MCP servers.

Multi-Tenancy​

Architecture where multiple organizations share infrastructure but have completely isolated data.

O​

Organization​

A tenant in ASCEND. Each organization has its own users, agents, policies, and data.

P​

PCI-DSS​

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Compliance framework that ASCEND supports.

PII (Personally Identifiable Information)​

Data that can identify an individual. ASCEND provides PII detection and protection.

Policy​

A rule that defines how certain types of actions should be handled (auto-approve, require approval, deny).

Pending Approval​

Action status indicating human review is required before execution.

R​

RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)​

Security model where permissions are assigned to roles, and roles are assigned to users.

Risk Assessment​

The process of calculating a risk score for an action based on multiple factors.

Risk Score​

A numeric value (0-100) indicating the potential risk of an action. Higher scores require more oversight.

RLS (Row-Level Security)​

PostgreSQL feature that restricts data access at the row level based on user context.

S​

SIEM​

Security Information and Event Management. ASCEND exports events to Splunk, Datadog, and other SIEMs.

Smart Rule​

A conditional policy that triggers based on specific criteria (action type, risk level, parameters).

SOC 2​

Service Organization Control 2. Compliance framework that ASCEND supports through audit logging and controls.

SSO (Single Sign-On)​

Authentication method allowing users to access ASCEND using their corporate identity provider.

T​

Tenant​

See Organization. Each tenant has isolated data and configurations.

Trust Level​

A classification for MCP servers (trusted, restricted, sandbox) that affects default approval requirements.

W​

Webhook​

An HTTP callback that ASCEND sends when events occur. Used for real-time integrations.

WORM (Write Once Read Many)​

Storage model where data can only be written once, never modified. Used for audit logs.

Common Abbreviations​

AbbreviationFull Form
APIApplication Programming Interface
BAABusiness Associate Agreement
CABChange Advisory Board
CIConfiguration Item (ServiceNow)
CIMCommon Information Model (Splunk)
CMDBConfiguration Management Database
DLQDead Letter Queue
DSRData Subject Request
HECHTTP Event Collector (Splunk)
HMACHash-based Message Authentication Code
ITSMIT Service Management
MFAMulti-Factor Authentication
OIDCOpenID Connect
PIIPersonally Identifiable Information
RLSRow-Level Security
SAMLSecurity Assertion Markup Language
SDKSoftware Development Kit
SLAService Level Agreement
TLSTransport Layer Security

Document Version: 1.0.0 | Last Updated: December 2025