BLUF
The CIA Triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability) is essential to information security, and understanding the difference between authentication and authorization is key to effective cybersecurity.

The CIA Triad: Core Principles of Cybersecurity
Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability are the three guiding principles of the CIA Triad, a foundational model in cybersecurity that guarantees information security. By employing techniques like encryption, access controls, and secure authentication, confidentiality guarantees that only authorized individuals can access sensitive information. For instance, a bank can guarantee that only authorized personnel can access customer data by encrypting it. Integrity ensures that, aside from authorized entities, data stays accurate and untouched. Digital signatures, hashing, and checksums are some of the methods used to do this. For example, a hospital uses audit logs and data validation procedures to guarantee that patient records are correct. Availability uses redundancy, failover techniques, and defenses against denial-of-service (DoS) assaults to guarantee that data and systems are available when needed.

Authentication vs. Authorization
Understanding the difference between authorization and authentication is another crucial component of cybersecurity. Verifying a user’s identity is known as authentication, and it is frequently accomplished using multi-factor authentication (MFA), biometrics, or passwords. A user is authenticated, for instance, when they input their login and password to access their email account. In contrast, authorization establishes what a user can do following authentication. Roles, permissions settings, or access control policies are used to manage it. For example, an IT staff member cannot access payroll data in a company’s internal system, but an HR person may.

A Practical Example
An employee attempting to access a company’s HR system serves as an example of the distinction between authentication and authorization. Initially, their identification is confirmed by the system once they input their login and password, enabling them to log in. Authorization takes over after authentication, deciding what they can access. While an ordinary employee going into the same system can only view their personal information, an HR employee can examine and update employee wage data. Therefore, permission determines what John is permitted to do within the system, but authentication verifies his identity.

Conclusion:
By understanding and applying the CIA Triad along with the distinction between authentication and authorization, organizations can create a stronger cybersecurity posture and better protect sensitive data and systems.