The CIA Triad cybersecurity model focuses on information and data security. It was developed to understand information security in general and represents the leading information security objectives: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. It defines the goals and objectives of data and information security programs and helps companies defend against potential threats.
The three principles of the CIA Triad form an entity linked to each other and cannot be completed if one is broken. Organizations that aspire to achieve maximum data and information security should make the pillars of this triad an integral part of their system.
Confidentiality
This primary address is for organizations to protect their customers’ and employees’ sensitive and personal information from unauthorized access. This includes information divided into two parts:
1- Personal Identification Information (PII), such as employee names, addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, and emails.
2- Protected/Personal Health Information (PHI) includes medical histories, mental problems, and test and laboratory results. It is considered a hard balance to achieve, so we need data classification.
- Handling access to sensitive data based on the organization’s required privacy
- Data encryption using 2FA
Integrity
This principle requires that organizations ensure that all data and information are not modified in any way without their owners. This means unauthorized changes should not be made to the data while it is transported, used, or stored.
- Implementing the necessary security measures to detect intrusion to detect any change in data.
- Back up data effectively and regularly.
- Establishing a culture of security in the workplace across the organization to reduce human errors and improve data integration mechanisms.
Availability
This component refers to the availability of data. This principle ensures the availability of data and its availability to authorized users when they need it, at any time and in any place.
- Develop plans for business continuity and disaster recovery.
- Continuously update and protect all devices.
- Detect threats and identify risks.
Example of the CIA Triad
Banks provide an excellent example of applying the CIA Triad to users, as they provide confidentiality of information, provide integrity by not allowing any person to change user information unless they are authorized (consistently accurate), and provide availability through the banking system. Their online sites are always available to users.
Conclusion
The CIA Triad is considered necessary for every organization because most companies stop working after being exposed to any cyber attack, and the possibility of recovering from any potential security breach is a challenging and tedious process that may result in enormous costs for the organization. Here lies the importance of this triad in maintaining data and information security, as it improves cybersecurity infrastructure, business continuity, and preparedness to confront future security threats.