CIA Triad
Summary
TLDRThis lecture delves into the fundamental aspects of computer security, focusing on the CIA triad which stands for Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. The speaker explains that computer security aims to protect information systems, including hardware, software, firmware, data, and telecommunications, against unauthorized access and breaches. The CIA triad ensures that data remains confidential, unaltered in integrity, and accessible when needed. The lecture also touches on the importance of additional elements like Authenticity and Accountability, which are crucial for verifying the trustworthiness of information sources and maintaining a record of user activities for forensic analysis. The impact of security breaches is categorized into low, medium, and high levels, with each level representing increasing severity of consequences. Real-world examples, such as banking transactions and healthcare systems, illustrate the practical applications of the CIA triad in safeguarding sensitive information and ensuring reliable access to services.
Takeaways
- π The definition of computer security by NIST emphasizes the protection of information systems to preserve integrity, availability, and confidentiality of resources.
- π The CIA triad is a fundamental concept in computer security, consisting of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability as its three key elements.
- π Confidentiality ensures that information is accessible only to authorized entities, preventing unauthorized access and disclosure.
- π‘οΈ Integrity ensures that data remains unaltered during transmission, preventing unauthorized modifications that could lead to incorrect or harmful outcomes.
- π Availability ensures that systems and services are accessible and functioning as expected, even in the face of potential attacks or disruptions.
- π The impact of a security breach can be categorized into low, medium, and high levels, with each level indicating the severity and potential consequences of the breach.
- π Authenticity and Accountability are additional elements to the CIA triad, focusing on verifying the identity of parties involved and ensuring responsibility for actions taken within a system.
- π¦ An example of confidentiality is banking account information, which should be encrypted to prevent unauthorized viewing or interception.
- π₯ An example of integrity is patient information in a hospital management system, where the accuracy of sensor data is critical for proper medical treatment.
- β An example of availability is an authentication service, which must be constantly available to verify user identities for system access.
- π Each organization has its own set of policies that determine the specific needs for confidentiality, integrity, and availability, which must be followed accordingly.
Q & A
What are the three key objectives of computer security?
-The three key objectives of computer security are confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
What does the term 'confidentiality' in the context of computer security mean?
-Confidentiality in computer security refers to the protection of information from unauthorized access and disclosure, ensuring that only authorized parties can understand the information being transmitted.
How is integrity defined within the CIA triad?
-Integrity within the CIA triad ensures that the information being transmitted remains unchanged and unaltered during transit, guaranteeing that the receiver gets the exact message sent by the sender without any modifications by unauthorized entities.
What does the term 'availability' signify in the context of computer security?
-Availability in computer security means ensuring timely and reliable access to the information system resources, which implies that the system is operational and accessible when required by the users.
What is the role of encryption in achieving confidentiality in computer security?
-Encryption plays a crucial role in achieving confidentiality by converting the original message into a scrambled text that can only be read by those who possess the correct encryption key, thus preventing unauthorized access to the information.
What are the three levels of impact of a security breach?
-The three levels of impact of a security breach are low level impact (limited adverse effect), medium level impact (serious adverse effect, possibly involving significant loss or life-threatening issues), and high level impact (catastrophic adverse effect, leading to severe damage or complete disaster for the organization).
What is the additional element 'authenticity' in the CIA triad, and why is it important?
-Authenticity is an additional element in the CIA triad that ensures the genuineness of the information and the ability to verify the identity of the parties involved in a transaction. It is important because it helps in establishing trust and ensuring that the information is coming from a trusted source.
How is 'accountability' different from the core elements of the CIA triad?
-Accountability is another additional element that focuses on the responsibility and tracking of actions performed by users within an information system. It is different from the core CIA elements as it deals with maintaining records of activities for forensic analysis and ensuring that users do not misuse their privileges.
Why is it crucial to maintain the integrity of patient information in a hospital management system?
-Maintaining the integrity of patient information is crucial because any unauthorized modification to the data, such as heartbeat rates or medical test results, could lead to incorrect diagnoses and treatments, potentially resulting in life-threatening consequences for the patient.
What is the importance of availability in the context of an authentication service?
-The availability of an authentication service is important because it needs to be accessible at all times to verify users' identities for secure access to systems. If the service is unavailable, users cannot access the system, which can disrupt operations and services.
How can the CIA triad help in preventing security breaches?
-The CIA triad helps prevent security breaches by focusing on three core principles: confidentiality protects information from unauthorized access, integrity ensures data remains unaltered, and availability guarantees consistent access to information systems. Adhering to these principles makes it more difficult for attackers to compromise a system.
What is the role of telecommunications in computer security?
-Telecommunications plays a significant role in computer security as it involves the transmission of data over networks. Protecting telecommunications ensures that data is secure during transit, preventing unauthorized access and ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of the information being exchanged.
Outlines
π Introduction to Computer Security and the CIA Triad
This paragraph introduces the topic of computer security and outlines the learning objectives for the session. The key terms of computer security are defined, emphasizing the importance of integrity, availability, and confidentiality. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is credited for the computer security definition. The paragraph also previews the discussion on the CIA triad and the impact levels of security breaches.
π The CIA Triad: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability
The CIA triad is explored in depth, starting with confidentiality, which ensures that information is only accessible to authorized parties. The concept of integrity is then explained, which is about ensuring that data remains unaltered during transmission. Availability ensures that systems are accessible and functional when required. The paragraph also touches on the importance of encryption in maintaining confidentiality and the role of the security system in preventing unauthorized modifications to data.
π Understanding the Levels of Impact of a Security Breach
This section categorizes the impact of security breaches into three levels: low, medium, and high. It explains that a low-level impact results in limited adverse effects, medium-level impact can lead to serious consequences, and a high-level impact signifies a catastrophic event for an organization. The paragraph further elaborates on additional elements of the CIA triad, namely authenticity and accountability, and their significance in information security.
π Real-World Applications and Expectations of the CIA Triad
The final paragraph provides real-world examples to illustrate the concepts of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. It discusses the encryption of banking information, the integrity of patient data in hospital management systems, and the constant availability of authentication services. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing that every organization has its own set of security policies and requirements, which should be adhered to for effective security management.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Computer Security
π‘CIA Triad
π‘Confidentiality
π‘Integrity
π‘Availability
π‘Security Breach
π‘Encryption
π‘Telecommunications
π‘Authenticity
π‘Accountability
π‘Information System Resources
Highlights
The CIA triad is introduced as a fundamental concept in computer security, encompassing Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.
Computer security is defined by NIST as the protection provided to an automated information system to preserve integrity, availability, and confidentiality.
Integrity in computer security ensures that data remains unaltered during transmission, maintaining the accuracy of information.
Confidentiality involves protecting data from unauthorized access and disclosure, typically through encryption.
Availability ensures timely and reliable access to the system, even when faced with potential attacks or disruptions.
The importance of telecommunications in computer security is emphasized, highlighting the need to secure data transmission across networks.
The concept of encryption is explained as a method to achieve confidentiality, where only the sender and receiver can understand the message.
Authenticity and accountability are introduced as additional elements to the CIA triad, focusing on verifying the identity of parties and recording user activities.
The impact of a security breach is categorized into low, medium, and high levels, each with increasing severity on organizational operations and assets.
Examples of confidentiality breaches include unauthorized access to banking information, which can be mitigated through encryption.
Integrity is illustrated through the critical nature of medical data, where any modification in patient information could lead to life-threatening consequences.
The necessity for authentication services to be highly available is exemplified by the constant accessibility of services like Google.
Different applications and organizations may have varying requirements for confidentiality, integrity, and availability based on their specific policies.
The lecture concludes with an encouragement for learners to understand the key objectives of computer security and the practical implications of the CIA triad.
The importance of a security system's ability to withstand attacks and maintain service availability is emphasized.
The role of encryption algorithms in maintaining confidentiality is discussed, noting that while the algorithms are public, the keys remain secret.
The lecture provides a comprehensive overview of computer security, including the definition, key objectives, and the impact of security breaches.
Transcripts
[Music]
hello everyone
welcome back in today's lecture we will
see the cia triad
as usual we will start the session with
the outcomes
upon the completion of this session the
learner will be able to
outcome number one we will define
computer security
outcome number two we will know the key
objectives of computer security
outcome number three we will understand
the c i
a triad and outcome number four we will
know various levels of
impact of security breach before we step
into the cia triad
let's see the definition of computer
security the computer security
definition is as follows the protection
afforded to an automated information
system
in order to attain the applicable
objectives of preserving
the integrity availability and
confidentiality of
information system resources which
includes hardware
software firmware information or data
and telecommunications and this is the
definition of computer security by
nist which is a government organization
of the united states
i know you will find many key terms in
the definition
i will just provide you an easy way to
understand this definition
let's figure out the three important key
terms of the definition
number one the integrity number two the
availability
and number three confidentiality if we
understand all these three key terms
then the definition will be easy
ultimately we are going to provide
security to the system
the system includes both hardware and
software not only hardware and software
we should also focus on the firmwares or
the data or the information that is
processed by the system
and not only this the telecommunications
as well
what is telecommunications it is the
communication
at a distance so in this subject we are
going to focus
on security in all aspects of the
computer networks
and obviously computer networks has a
lot of things to deal with
if these three key objectives are clear
that is the integrity availability and
confidentiality that the definition will
be clear
anyway we are going to see these three
key terms elaborately
in the cia triad part let's now step
into the cia triad
what is the cia triad the name itself
says that it is a triad tri means three
so there are three key elements of this
c i a triad
let's see what are the three key
elements we can see the first element is
the confidentiality
the second one is the integrity and the
third one is the availability and we can
notice that
everything is for the data and the
services we are going to do with the
computer system
all right let's see the key terms
elaborately firstly we will focus on the
first key element
the confidentiality when we say
something is confidential what do you
mean by that
it means others should not understand
except the parties who are involved in
that transaction
say if i am drafting a letter to my
friend and if i mention that it is
confidential
this confidential message means it
should be known to me
as well as to my friend right because
these two parties are legitimate parties
involved in this transaction
now if an anonymous person receives this
letter or message
and if he sees the message or the
content what is there in the transaction
then ultimately there is loss of privacy
right so obviously we don't have any
confidentiality when somebody sees the
message
so we need to prevent unauthorized
access and disclosure
unauthorized access means nobody else
can access
except the right entities who are
involved in the transaction and
disclosure means the message should not
be open enough
to be simple if the message is encrypted
no one else can see what is the message
except the sender and the receiver right
because the sender and the receiver only
will know what is the message what is
the key what is the encryption algorithm
everything right
generally encryption algorithms are kept
public and keys only
are kept secret anyway i will talk about
this later for time being just
understand
confidentiality means we need to protect
the data that is being transmitted
if it is encrypted obviously it provides
confidentiality because
no one else can see what it is right it
is a scrambled text that they are seeing
no one else should be able to understand
what is the message that is being
transmitted between the sender and the
receiver
this is exactly confidentiality let's
come to the second key element
in cia triad which is the integrity i
will just give you a formula like this
sent is equal to received whatever the
sender is sending
the same message only the receiver
should receive for example if you are
performing a banking transaction of 1000
rupees
obviously the transaction should involve
only 1 000 rupees
what if an attacker modifies this as 10
000 rupees
not only the modification of amount by
the attacker
let's assume the destination address or
the destination account is given
as the attacker's account just imagine
this for an example this may not be real
and this may not be seeming to be a
perfect example
but i wanted to make you to understand
the severity of modification of message
i wanted to explain you what is
integrity so we don't want any
modification of messages by the
unauthorized people
say you want to transfer some fund to
your friend but unfortunately the fund
is being transmitted or transferred
to somebody else account that is
attackers account obviously this has
happened because of the modification
of the messages that is being
transmitted between the sender and the
receiver
by the attackers so this transaction
should not be permitted by the system
and the security system should be able
to find out that this is not the message
that was sent by the sender
in other words the security system
should ensure that this is not the
transaction that was initiated by the
sender
so integrity means we need to ensure
that there is no modification of the
message that is being transmitted
so whatever the sender is sending that
only the receiver should receive
and if there is any modification in the
message that is being transmitted the
system should be able to find out that
and it should discard that message so
integrity is also one of the key terms
of the cia triad
and coming to the third key element
which is the availability
availability means we need to ensure the
timely and the reliable access to the
system
say for example if you are hitting
google.com if you hit now it will work
if you hit after one hour it will work
if you hit after 10 days it will work
because you trust that google server
will be always available
at the same time there may be many
attacks that may be launched against
google.com server
but still google server is a very
secured one and google is able to
provide its service to the customers or
the users who access it
without any flaws so that's the power of
a security
system i will also provide you one more
example imagine you have a bank account
and you want to access your banking
server
you are expecting the banking server to
respond you with the requested data
what if an attacker has launched an
attack on the banking server
and disrupted the service so when you
access the banking server you are not
getting the service that you are
expecting
obviously we don't encourage that
because whenever we want a service we
expect the system to provide service to
us
and this service should be a timely and
a reliable service as well
there will be attackers always on the
internet and our security system is
expected to provide security to the
system
and to the users and whenever any attack
is launched on the server
we expect the server should withstand
that attack it should still be able to
provide access to the servers in the
same way as it was in the perfect
situation
and that's it about the cia triad let's
now navigate to the levels of impact
of security breach when there is a
security breach
in the organizational data or to the
server or to an individual
basically there will be three levels of
impact number one
is the low level impact number two is
the medium level impact
and number three is the high level
impact we will see the various levels of
impact of security breach one by one now
firstly we will focus on low level
impact if your system is affected by
some attacks
and the low level impact means there is
a limited adverse effect
on organizations operation or
organizational assets or
individual that is the system is
affected with minor
harm or minor damage or in terms of
financial aspects
it is a minor financial loss if the
effect of the attack is negligible then
it falls in the low level impact
and coming to the next level of impact
which is the medium level of impact
it has a serious adverse effect on
organizational operation
or organizational assets or even serious
adverse effect on
individual so the loss may be a
significant loss or a significant damage
or a significant harm that is caused to
the organization or to the individual
and this medium level of impact means
the attack may be involving in the loss
of life
or even serious life threatening issues
also
and coming to the final level of impact
which is the high level impact
so when the medium itself is very
dangerous think about the high level
impact so everything is gone
right so the reputation everything high
level impact of security breach means
the organization
has catastrophic adverse effect it means
severe adverse effect on organizational
operations or organizational assets or
individual it is a complete disaster to
the organization
so these are the three levels of impact
of security breach
and this could be for an individual or
for an organization
or for an organizational data or for the
information system
or for any kind of stuff that really
needs security
before we step out let's see the
additional features of cia triad
basically the cia triad includes only
three key elements right the
confidentiality
the integrity and the availability we
also have two more additional elements
and the additional elements are number
one the authenticity and number two
accountability authenticity is the
property of being genuine and being able
to verify the part is
involved say if the sender is going to
send some message to the receiver
say if the receiver is receiving a
message and the receiver should be able
to verify that the message is from the
right party
or the message is from the trusted
source we will call this property as
authenticity in other words let's say
you are accessing google.com
suppose if you give a request from your
browser as www.google.com
and you are expecting that your request
is going to google server and not any
bogus server
right when the request is received by
google server and google should be able
to verify that it is from you
so this is we call as authentication or
authenticity
and coming to the next additional
element which is accountability
say for example accountability is also
an essential part of an information
security plan
it means every individual who works with
an organization or who works with an
information system
should have specific responsibilities
for information
assurance every user who access the
system has their own roles and
responsibilities
and whatever the actions the users
perform the system should keep records
of their activities
why system should keep track of the
activities because
later if any attack is launched or if we
find that something is suspicious
then the system should permit forensic
analysis later
to trace the security breaches so in
order to do that we need to ensure that
the system is
accountable every user is given some
responsibility
and every user should access only to
that level of privilege
or it must ensure that the users are not
misusing their privileges
let's see some real time examples for
confidentiality
integrity and availability the first one
we will see
is confidentiality for example the
banking account information say you have
your mobile phone and you have your
banking
app in your mobile phone if you request
some data from your banking server
and from the banking server to your
mobile phone or to your desktop from
where you are going to access
the data traffic must be encrypted what
if the data is not encrypted
obviously there are chances for the
attackers to see what information is
being transferred between the sender and
the receiver
so we don't encourage that should happen
so encryption is one of the ways we can
achieve
confidentiality if the message is
encrypted
except the server and you who are
accessing the system
no one else can understand what it is so
the message must be encrypted
encryption is one of the ways to achieve
confidentiality
coming to the second example which is
integrity the patient's information
say for example there is a hospital
management system let's assume someone
is having some disease and that person
is installed with some sensors
and the sensors are installed on his
body in this hospital management system
the doctor can be anywhere in the world
and the patient can also be anywhere in
the world but still doctor and patient
relationship
can exist seamlessly because of the
powerful internet connectivity and the
iot concepts the internet of things
in this example the patient is wearing a
sensor and the patient or doctor need
not be in person
to do the medical treatment or to get
the medical treatment
and what is the role of the sensor you
know the sensor is going to report the
heartbeat rate periodically to the
doctor
by other servers let's assume the server
is going to collect all the heartbeat
information that is sent by the sensor
so obviously whatever the sensor is
sensing the heartbeat value that should
be stored without any alteration in the
server
only then the doctor will be able to
provide right treatment to the patient
if the sensor is sensing the right value
and the right value is sent to the
server but
during the travel if an attacker is
modifying the value
and if this modification is stored in
the server and when the doctor sees this
modified value and
is giving some treatment based on this
this could be
a life threatening issue also it could
even lead to lethality or fatality
let's assume the heartbeat value that is
sensed by the sensor is 70
and this 70 is now being transmitted to
the receiver that is the server
what if the attackers captures this
packet and modifies it as 150.
so the treatment may go wrong right
because of this so all patients
information must be
confidential and not only confidential
it should also have the property of
integrity
so whatever the sender is sending that
only the receiver should receive
no modification should be permitted so
this is an example for integrity
and coming to the next one the
availability example
authentication service let's assume
there is a server which is providing
authentication service
and whenever user wants to carry out any
activity this user must be verified or
authenticated by the authentication
server
and this authentication server should be
always available because user may
request data access
at any point of time so authentication
is one of the important services that
should be always available
we can take google as an example also
just think anytime you access google.com
you will be able to get the access
because google.com server is available
all the time
and whenever you request any service you
should get that service that's what as
an end user we will expect right
the examples that are shown here just
for understanding concepts but in
reality
every application or every organization
has their own set of policies
their confidentiality level or their
confidentiality need will be different
from each other say for example the
integrity requirement or the
availability requirement or the
confidentiality requirement
for every individual or an organization
varies so it has to be followed as per
the policies they frame
i hope these examples will help you to
understand what is confidentiality
integrity and availability and that's it
guys i hope now you understood the
computer security
the key objectives of computer security
we also understood the cia triad
and we also have seen various levels of
impact of security breach
i hope you guys enjoyed today's lecture
i'll see you in the next lecture and
thank you for watching
Browse More Related Video
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)