In cybersecurity, the CIA Triad is a fundamental model that acts as a foundation for developing security policies designed to protect data. The CIA Triad stands for Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.
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Confidentiality: This refers to keeping sensitive information private and secure. The aim is to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing the data. To ensure confidentiality, organizations need security measures that can identify unauthorized personnel and prevent them from accessing the data.
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Integrity: This refers to the completeness and accuracy of data, as well as the organizations ability to protect it from corruption. Integrity means data are trustworthy, complete, and have not been accidentally altered or modified by an unauthorized user.
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Availability: This means data are accessible when needed. The data being sent over the network should not be accessed by unauthorized individuals. Extra security equipment or software such as firewalls and proxy servers can guard against downtime and unreachable data blocked by malicious denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and network intrusions.
The CIA Triad is crucial to information security since it enriches security posture, enables organizations to stay compliant with complex regulations, and guarantees business continuity. The CIA Triad is a foundational concept on which to create a full-scale, strong cybersecurity strategy.