The CIA Triad

The CIA Triad is the cornerstone model for developing security policies. It stands for Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.

1. Confidentiality

Confidentiality ensures that data is accessible only to authorized parties.

• Goal: Preventing unauthorized disclosure of information.
• Controls: Encryption, Access Control Lists (ACLs), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

2. Integrity

Integrity ensures that data is accurate and trustworthy and that it has not been modified or deleted inappropriately.

• Goal: Maintaining the accuracy and completeness of data.
• Controls: Hashing, Digital Signatures, Input Validation, File permissions.

3. Availability

Availability ensures that systems, services, and data are accessible to authorized users when needed.

• Goal: Uptime and reliable access.
• Controls: Redundancy (RAID), Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), Load balancing, Protection against Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks.