The CIA triad is a fundamental model in IT security, emphasizing three key components: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.
It is also referred to as the AIC triad to distinguish it from the Central Intelligence Agency, but CIA is the more commonly used term.
The model does not relate to the federal organization (CIA) but rather serves as a mnemonic for essential security principles.
Confidentiality
Definition: Refers to the protection of private information from unauthorized access.
Goals: To prevent unauthorized individuals from gaining access to sensitive data, thus maintaining privacy.
Methods of Achieving Confidentiality:
Encryption:
A process where data is transformed into a secure format that cannot be easily interpreted by unauthorized users.
For example, one person encrypts data, sends it to another person who then decrypts it to access the original plaintext.
This protects the data from being understood by any unauthorized parties who might intercept it.
Access Controls:
Defines who can access certain types of information.
Example: Employees in a marketing department may access marketing presentations but no accounting information.
Authentication Factors:
Additional layers of credential verification required when logging into systems to enhance confidentiality.
Prevents unauthorized account access by ensuring proper credentials are provided.
Integrity
Definition: Ensures that data sent from one party reaches another without alteration.
Importance: It confirms that the data received is exactly as intended by the sender.
Methods of Ensuring Integrity:
Hashing:
A technique where a fixed-size string of characters (hash) is created based on the original data.
The sender provides both the data and its hash. The receiver can generate their own hash from the received data to verify integrity.
If both hashes match, the data has been transmitted accurately.
Digital Signatures:
Combines hashing with asymmetric encryption.
The sender encrypts a hash using a private key, allowing the receiver to verify the data and the identity of the sender.
Certificates:
Used to identify devices and users, providing additional assurance of integrity during data transfer.
Non-repudiation:
A principle that ensures proof of integrity exists, confirming that the data indeed originated from the sender.
Availability
Definition: The assurance that systems and data are accessible when needed by authorized users.
Significance: A critical component to ensure users can access the information they require without interruption.
Methods to Enhance Availability:
System Design: Systems should be built to always be operational, minimizing downtime.
Fault Tolerance:
Incorporating redundancy in systems by having multiple components to ensure continuous operation during component failure.
System Management and Updates:
Regular management and updates (patching) of systems to resolve potential vulnerabilities and ensure stability.
Addresses security gaps that could allow exploits, increasing system availability.
Conclusion
The CIA triad encapsulates the core objectives of IT security: maintaining confidentiality, ensuring integrity, and guaranteeing availability for secure and dependable data management in various IT systems.