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exfiltration meaning and examples

2025-08-28

Meaning

Exfiltration is a noun that generally means the secret or unauthorized removal of something from a place. It is often used in two main contexts:

  1. Military – the secret withdrawal of personnel from hostile territory.
  2. Cybersecurity – the unauthorized transfer of data from a computer system or network.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Noun
  • Usage: Refers to the act or process of extracting people or data secretly.
  • Military usage: often paired with operation, mission, or troops.
  • Cybersecurity usage: often paired with data, information, or files.

Typical sentence structures:

  • "The exfiltration of data went undetected."
  • "A covert exfiltration mission was carried out at night."

Common Phrases

  • Data exfiltration – unauthorized transfer of sensitive data.
  • Covert exfiltration – secret withdrawal of personnel.
  • Exfiltration operation – a planned mission to remove people from dangerous areas.
  • Cloud exfiltration – stealing data from cloud storage systems.

Collocations

  • verb + exfiltration: prevent exfiltration, detect exfiltration, conduct exfiltration
  • adjective + exfiltration: covert exfiltration, rapid exfiltration, stealthy exfiltration
  • noun + exfiltration: data exfiltration, personnel exfiltration, information exfiltration

Examples

  1. The soldiers completed their exfiltration from enemy territory before dawn.
  2. Cybersecurity teams work hard to detect data exfiltration attempts.
  3. The spy was awaiting covert exfiltration after completing his mission.
  4. Hackers often use malware to enable exfiltration of confidential files.
  5. The helicopter was used for the rapid exfiltration of injured troops.
  6. The IT department noticed unusual traffic that indicated possible exfiltration.
  7. The movie portrayed a dramatic exfiltration operation behind enemy lines.
  8. Security policies are designed to prevent unauthorized exfiltration of data.
  • Military context: withdrawal, extraction, evacuation
  • Cybersecurity context: data theft, data leakage, breach