What does MIC stand for?
| Full form | Message Integrity Code |
|---|---|
| Category | Technology & computing |
| Type | Initialism |
The initialism MIC stands for Message Integrity Code in RFC 8732’s GSS-API key-exchange description. The code is generated and verified by separate operations in that protocol sequence.
The RFC’s wording gives a practical distinction when reading a security trace: GSS_GetMIC generates a Message Integrity Code for the stated payload, while GSS_VerifyMIC is used to verify it. A record of generation is therefore not a record that a peer successfully verified the code. Keep the operation, payload label and recorded outcome together. In an original fictional trace, generation for payload Cedar followed by verification pending should be summarized as generated, awaiting verification. A verification result for a different payload labelled Birch should not silently be attached to Cedar. These examples concern how to read supplied statements; they do not implement a cryptographic algorithm, authenticate a peer or validate a real exchange. They also do not replace another reference’s expansion: Cisco’s MFP documentation, for example, uses Message Integrity Check. MIC can have related but differently worded technical meanings, so the surrounding protocol is part of a useful expansion.
Meaning in context
- Message Integrity Code
- The full form used in the cited RFC 8732 passage.
- Generation and verification
- GSS_GetMIC and GSS_VerifyMIC name distinct operations in that passage.
Practical examples
Preserve a pending verification
- Before
Invented trace: GSS_GetMIC generated a code for Cedar; verification pending. Draft: The peer verified Cedar successfully.
- After
The fictional trace reports a generated code for Cedar; verification remains pending.
A generation event does not supply the result of the separate verification operation.
Do not transfer a result
- Before
Invented trace: Cedar generated; Birch verified successfully. Draft: Cedar verified successfully.
- After
The supplied successful verification belongs to Birch; Cedar has only a generation record.
A result must stay with its payload label instead of being moved between trace entries.
Original illustrative examples, not quotations or reports of actual events.
Generation or verification?
Does this MIC record show code generation, completed verification or a result belonging to another payload?
See all guidance
Read generation
Name the payload whose code was generated.
A code was generated for payload Cedar.
Read verification
Keep the recorded verification result with its payload.
The supplied verification outcome belongs to Birch.
Expand MIC
Use the protocol’s actual full form.
Message Integrity Code in the cited GSS-API passage.
Keep generation and verification separate and attach each reported outcome to the same payload and operation named in the record.
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By AcronymIndex Editorial Team · Editorial policy