Confidentiality and Privacy Controls

Information Rights Management (IRM)

Software the limits file access and controls the actions an individual can perform using a file

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Effectively reverse antivirus software - prevents outgoing messages containing sensitive organization data

Digital Watermark

Code embedded in documents that allows a company to identify confidential information that has been disclosed.

Data Masking (Tokenization)

Protecting privacy by replacing sensitive information with fake data

Opt-in

A policy that prevents organizations from collecting personal information from customers without their explicit consent

Opt-out

A policy that allows organizations to assume personal information collection is alright unless a customer explicitly objects

Cookie

A text file created by a website and stored on a visitor’s hard drive, showing who the user is and what they have done on the site

Identity Theft

Assuming somebody’s identity for personal gain by illegally obtaining confidential information related to them

Encryption

A preventative control that transforms readable text into unintelligible gibberish (ciphertext) for privacy protection during data transit or storage

Plaintext

Text that is not encrypted

Ciphertext

Text that is encrypted

Decryption

Transforming ciphertext back into plaintext

Symmetric Encryption Systems

Encryption systems that use the same key to encrypt and decrypt

Asymmetric Encryption Systems

Encryption systems that use two keys; either key can encrypt, but only the matching one can decrypt

Public Key

One key used in an asymmetric encryption system that is widely available to everyone

Private Key

A key used in asymmetric encryption systems which is kept private to only the owner of that particular pair of keys

Key Escrow

The process of storing a copy of an encrypted key in a secure location

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Using encryption or authentication to securely transfer information over the internet, thereby creating a virtual private network

Nonrepudiation

Creating legally binding agreements that cannot be unilaterally repudiated by either party

Hashing

Transforming plaintext of any length into a short code called a hash

Hash

Plaintext transformed into short code

Digital Signature

A hash encrypted with the hash creator’s private key

Digital Certificate

An electronic document that certifies the identity of the owner of a particular public key and contains said public key

Certificate Authority

An organization that issues public and private keys and records the public key in a digital certificate

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)

The system for issuing pairs of public and private keys and corresponding digital certificates