Overview

Info

The CIA Triad is a foundational model in information security. It outlines three core principles that guide the protection of data and systems: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.

These principles are used to assess risk, design controls, and align cybersecurity practices with business goals.


🔐 Confidentiality

Restricting access to data to only those who are authorized.

Key Concepts

  • Preventing unauthorized access or disclosure
  • Enforced through access controls, encryption, and data classification
  • Applies to all forms of data: physical, digital, and verbal

Common Controls

  • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
  • Encryption at rest and in transit

🧾 Integrity

Ensuring that data is accurate, complete, and has not been tampered with.

Key Concepts

  • Preventing unauthorized changes or corruption of data
  • Includes both intentional and unintentional modifications

Common Controls

  • Checksums and hashing (e.g., SHA-256)
  • Digital signatures
  • Version control and audit logging

🚦 Availability

Ensuring that authorized users have timely and reliable access to data and systems.

Key Concepts

  • Systems and data must be accessible when needed
  • Protects against outages, hardware failures, and denial-of-service attacks

Common Controls

  • Redundant systems and backups
  • Disaster recovery planning
  • Load balancing and failover systems

🧩 CIA Triad in Practice

PrincipleThreat ExampleControl Example
ConfidentialityUnauthorized database accessEncryption, access control
IntegrityFile tampering or corruptionHashing, digital signatures
AvailabilityRansomware or DDoS attackBackups, network redundancies

Tip

These three principles are interdependent. Strengthening one often affects the others. A secure system balances all three based on the organization’s risk profile and operational needs.


Summary

The CIA Triad is not a framework but a conceptual foundation used across all major cybersecurity standards. It informs security policies, threat modeling, incident response, and compliance efforts.

  • Core to NIST, ISO/IEC 27001, and other standards
  • Essential for building trust in systems and data
  • Relevant for both technical and governance teams