The CIA Triad: The Balance of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability

The CIA Triad is a vital framework for cybersecurity that serves to protect sensitive data. It is comprised of the following: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. This research paper delves in deeper and explores the significance of these principles and will also discuss the difference between authentication and authorization.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is the principle that ensures that measures are designed to protect sensitive information from unauthorized users (Chai, 2022). Users should be able to trust that only people who have permission to their data will be able to access it. Some confidential information that needs to be protected includes banking information, social security numbers, login credentials, and so much more. There are many security measures that can be put in place such as encryption, access controls, strong authentication methods, secure file storage, and security updates. The level of sensitivity varies for types of data, and it is vital to decide which security measures to use.

Integrity

Integrity is the principle that maintains the accuracy and trustworthiness of data (Chai, 2022). Its focus is on preventing unauthorized modifications to data. It would do lethal damage if a user hijacked a trusted source of information. Some techniques to increase integrity are encryption, digital signatures, access controls, error detection, data validation, and regular monitoring of data (Seboru, 2023).

Availability

Availability is the principle that ensures that information should be consistently accessible to authorized users (Chai, 2022). Computers and their software need to be accessible and functional on the command of a user. It would be pointless to have a powerful app but for it to work only half of the time. The downtime of apps, software, and websites should be very limited, and people should almost always have access to it. Availability measures that take place include deploying multiple servers and implementing caching(Is the CIA triad relevant?, 2023).

Authentication vs. Authorization

While both authentication and authorization are vital things that a user must have before having access to sensitive data, the two are not the same. Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user attempting to access a system(What is the difference between authentication and authorization?, 2023). Authentication methods include login credentials, fingerprint scans, card scanners, and multi-factor authorization. Authorization comes after authentication, and it determines what the user can do and what data can they access. Authorization is usually set by the organization and depends on the role and responsibility of the user.

Conclusion

Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability are foundational principles of cybersecurity that make up the CIA Triad. Confidentiality protects sensitive information from unauthorized users, Integrity shields data so that it is not tampered with, and Availability ensures that data is always available to authorized users. This framework can assist in developing strong security policies for organizations. Authentication and authorization are also vital parts of cybersecurity, in which authentication verifies a user’s identity and authorization grants access to certain functions and data.

References

Chai, W. (2023, February 10). What is the CIA triad? definition, explanation, examples: TechTarget. WhatIs.com. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Confidentiality-integrity-and-availability-CIA?jr=on

Oana. (2023, April 25). Data confidentiality: How can businesses protect their data?. Penneo. https://penneo.com/blog/data-confidentiality/#:~:text=Encrypt%20your%20data,else%2C%20encrypted%20data%20is%20intelligible.

Seboru, Y. (n.d.). What are the most secure methods for ensuring data integrity?. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-most-secure-methods-ensuring-data-integrity-yusuf-seboru#:~:text=By%20employing%20a%20combination%20of,the%20integrity%20of%20their%20data.

Is the CIA triad relevant? confidentiality, integrity & availability Today. Splunk. (2023, January 11). https://www.splunk.com/en_us/blog/learn/cia-triad-confidentiality-integrity-availability.html#:~:text=Ensuring%20availability%20must%20be%20baked,provide%20the%20data%20you%20need.

What is the difference between authentication and authorization?. SailPoint. (2023, March 7). https://www.sailpoint.com/identity-library/difference-between-authentication-and-authorization/#:~:text=So%2C%20what%20is%20the%20difference,a%20user%20has%20access%20to.