Among the more important concepts regarding the practice of cybersecurity is the confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) triad. This triad primarily exists as a guide for information security policy within a given organization. The CIA triad is regarded by many within the cybersecurity field as a foundational concept within the practice, though it has drawn some critique for possibly being out of date (Chai, 2022.)

To understand CIA, it is important to understand what the three components are. Confidentiality refers to the ability to keep sensitive information from reaching the wrong people. Integrity means keeping data reliable for as long as it is needed. This particularly involves making sure that data is not tampered with at any point in its lifecycle. Lastly, availability refers to keeping information consistent and accessible for those who need to access it.

Another important concept in cybersecurity is that of authentication. Authentication is the process of verifying a user’s claims, such as their claimed identity (auth0, 2023.) This differs from authorization, which while it does sound similar, is actually something entirely different within cybersecurity. Authorization refers to determining what a user can and cannot do within a system and almost always comes after authentication (auth0, 2023.)

In conclusion, CIA is an important concept because it is seen as an essential guide by many within the cybersecurity field. Authentication is a part of applying the availability part of the CIA triad, while authorization is a part of applying the integrity part of the CIA triad. While these two concepts of authorization and authentication are related, they must be understood as different concepts with different purposes.

References:

Auth0. (2023). Authentication vs. authorization. Auth0 Docs. https://auth0.com/docs/get-started/identity-fundamentals/authentication-and-authorization

Chai, W. (2022, June 28). What is the CIA triad_ definition, explanation, examples – techtarget.pdf. TechTarget. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1898r4pGpKHN6bmKcwlxPdVZpCC6Moy8l/view