Abstract

Confidentiality, integrity, and availability are the three basic components of the CIA Triad. Each of these components describes the foundational principle of data security. “Considering these three principles together within the framework of the ‘triad’ can help guide the development of security policies for organizations” (Chai). To develop a picture-perfect network, the developer must take into account the privacy of the data being transmitted, the availability of the data to the end user, and the maintenance of consistent, accurate, and truthful data transmission. When protecting the data files, restricting the access of personal files from unauthorized users must be in place. Authorization deems who is allowed access and who is not permitted to access the data. Authentication is then in place to prove that the users accessing the data are allowed to access the data.

What is the CIA Triad

The CIA Triad is broken into three parts, confidentiality, integrity, and availability: not to be mistaken by the central intelligence agency. Confidentiality is closely similar to privacy in the fact that confidentiality prevents unauthorized access to private data files. When authorizing who has access to the data, implementing authentication is necessary to provide a way to ensure that the users accessing the private data are allowed to. Integrity is interwind with confidentiality, in the way that integrity is maintaining of the trustworthiness of data. A breach in confidentiality will result in the altering of data files, causing a breach in integrity. The final part of the CIA Triad is the availability of the data, there is no use of the data if no one can gain access. Having the data “consistently and readily accessible” (Chai) to anyone with authorized access will allow the data to be usable. All three parts work hand in hand and the failure of one part will cause the rest of the Triad to fail.

CIA in the Real World

ODU’s student portal implements the CIA Triad to allow only the students to be able to access their information from their devices whenever they need to. Two-factor authentication is implemented when logging onto a student profile using DUO mobile. A student will need to have the correct login information and then accept the login on their phone. This software allows both authentication and authorization within the accessing of the ODU portal. Integrity is maintained when the ODU IT staff ensures that the portal website is always secure without the possibility of unauthorized logins. The IT staff also ensures availability to the ODU portal by having the website accessible from multiple different platforms ranging from a computer to a mobile cellphone.

Conclusion

There are multiple situations where the CIA Triad is implemented and working. On the other hand, there are some situations where failure in implementing the Triad caused a breach into the network and a shutdown of access. Ensuring that the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the data on a network is working smoothly, will allow the end user to access the data they need when they need it. Try and find some other examples of the CIA Triad and you can find out that it is implemented in almost every network that you use.

Works Cited

Chai, Wesley. What Is the CIA Triad? Definition, Explanation, Examples. 28 June 2022, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1898r4pGpKHN6bmKcwlxPdVZpCC6Moy8l/view.