Today the term is used to refer to any official inspection team or
special "firefighting" group called in to look at or solve a
problem. The team typically operates (at least partially) outside
the normal chain of command, and reports directly to a higher
company officer. In aerospace engineering and other fields a tiger team
will often attack thorny technical problems.
In the computer security field, the term is now obsolete, and
more common terms are penetration testers or security testers.
Security assessment testing of a computer system or network
infrastructure is called penetration testing.
The term originated with the military to describe a team
whose purpose is to penetrate security of "friendly" installations,
and thus test their security measures. The members are professionals
who install evidence of their success, e.g. leave cardboard signs
saying "bomb" in critical defense installations, hand-lettered notes
saying "Your code books have been stolen" (they usually have not
been) inside safes, etc. Sometimes, after a successful penetration,
a high-ranking security person will show up later for a "security
review," and "find" the evidence. Serious successes of tiger teams
sometimes lead to early retirement for base commanders and security
officers.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 September 2007 )
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