Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

    Glossary
A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M  |  N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z

protocol

Definitions:

  A set of rules (i.e., formats and procedures) to implement and control some type of association (e.g., communication) between systems.
Sources:
CNSSI 4009-2015 from IETF RFC 4949 Ver 2
NIST SP 800-82r3 from RFC 4949
NISTIR 8183 under Protocol from NIST SP 800-82r3
NISTIR 8183 Rev. 1 under Protocol from NIST SP 800-82r3
NISTIR 8183A Vol. 1 under Protocol
NISTIR 8183A Vol. 2 under Protocol
NISTIR 8183A Vol. 3 under Protocol

  A set of rules used by two or more communicating entities that describe the message order and data structures for information exchanged between the entities.
Sources:
NIST SP 800-175B Rev. 1 under Protocol
NIST SP 800-56B Rev. 2 under Protocol

  A set of rules (i.e., formats and procedures) for communications that computers use when sending signals between themselves.
Sources:
NISTIR 7316 under Protocol