What is the CIA Triad and Why You Should Care

Introduction

Every day we see on the news of a new data breach or a new ransomware attack plaguing our society. With the rapid adoption of technology in all sectors it is becoming increasingly difficult to protect and secure it properly. According to the Ponemon Institute’s 2017 State of Cybersecurity in Small & Medium-Sized Businesses report, the percentage of small businesses that have experienced a cyber attack increased from 55% in 2016 to 61% in 2017 and small businesses that experienced a data breach increased from 50% in 2016 to 54% in 2017. With an ever growing danger to small businesses everyone should be familiar with a fundamental part of cyber security, the CIA Triad.

CIA Triad

The CIA Triad is a model used to design policies for cyber security in an organization. As the name suggests the CIA Triad is built around three factors, Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Each one of these factors is a pillar to create an effective and secure cyber security policy for your organization.

Confidentiality

The definition of confidentiality is the state of keeping or being kept secret or private. In cyber security, confidentiality is used to prevent sensitive information from being accessed by the wrong people, while also being…