Information security

It has been suggested that Information assurance be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2024.

Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. ^[1] It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data or the unlawful use, disclosure, disruption, deletion, corruption, modification, inspection, recording, or devaluation of information. It also involves actions intended to reduce the adverse impacts of such incidents. Protected information may take any form, e.g., electronic or physical, tangible (e.g., paperwork), or intangible (e.g., knowledge). ^{[2] [3]} Information security's primary focus is the balanced protection of data confidentiality, integrity, and availability (also known as the 'CIA' triad) ^[4] while maintaining a focus on efficient policy implementation, all without hampering organization productivity. ^[5] This is largely achieved through a structured risk management process. ^[6]

Contents

• Standards
• Threats
• History
• Security Goals
• CIA triad
• Additional security goals
• Other Models
• Risk management
• Security controls
• Defense in depth
• Classification
• Access control
• Identification
• Authentication
• Authorization
• Cryptography
• Process
• Incident response plans
• Change management
• Business continuity
• Laws and regulations
• Culture
• Other definitions
• See also
• References
• Bibliography
• Further reading
• External links

To standardize this discipline, academics and professionals collaborate to offer guidance, policies, and industry standards on passwords, antivirus software, firewalls, encryption software, legal liability, security awareness and training, and so forth. ^[7] This standardization may be further driven by a wide variety of laws and regulations that affect how data is accessed, processed, stored, transferred, and destroyed. ^[8]

While paper-based business operations are still prevalent, requiring their own set of information security practices, enterprise digital initiatives are increasingly being emphasized, ^{[9] [10]} with information assurance now typically being dealt with by information technology (IT) security specialists. These specialists apply information security to technology (most often some form of computer system).

IT security specialists are almost always found in any major enterprise/establishment due to the nature and value of the data within larger businesses. ^[11] They are responsible for keeping all of the technology within the company secure from malicious attacks that often attempt to acquire critical private information or gain control of the internal systems. ^{[12] [13]}

There are many specialist roles in Information Security including securing networks and allied infrastructure, securing applications and databases, security testing, information systems auditing, business continuity planning, electronic record discovery, and digital forensics. ^[14]

Standards

Information security standards are techniques generally outlined in published materials that attempt to protect the information of a user or organization. ^[15] This environment includes users themselves, networks, devices, all software, processes, information in storage or transit, applications, services, and systems that can be connected directly or indirectly to networks.

The principal objective is to reduce the risks, including preventing or mitigating attacks. These published materials consist of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions, training, best practices, assurance and technologies.

Common information security standards include ISO/IEC 27001 and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

Threats

Information security threats come in many different forms. ^[16] Some of the most common threats today are software attacks, theft of intellectual property, theft of identity, theft of equipment or information, sabotage, and information extortion. ^{[17] [18]} Viruses, ^[19] worms, phishing attacks, and Trojan horses are a few common examples of software attacks. The theft of intellectual property has also been an extensive issue for many businesses. ^[20] Identity theft is the attempt to act as someone else usually to obtain that person's personal information or to take advantage of their access to vital information through social engineering. ^{[21] [22]} Sabotage usually consists of the destruction of an organization's website in an attempt to cause loss of confidence on the part of its customers. ^[23] Information extortion consists of theft of a company's property or information as an attempt to receive a payment in exchange for returning the information or property back to its owner, as with ransomware. ^[24] One of the most functional precautions against these attacks is to conduct periodical user awareness. ^[25]

Governments, military, corporations, financial institutions, hospitals, non-profit organisations, and private businesses amass a great deal of confidential information about their employees, customers, products, research, and financial status. ^[26] Should confidential information about a business's customers or finances or new product line fall into the hands of a competitor or hacker, a business and its customers could suffer widespread, irreparable financial loss, as well as damage to the company's reputation. ^[27] From a business perspective, information security must be balanced against cost; the Gordon-Loeb Model provides a mathematical economic approach for addressing this concern. ^[28]

For the individual, information security has a significant effect on privacy, which is viewed very differently in various cultures. ^[29]

History

Since the early days of communication, diplomats and military commanders understood that it was necessary to provide some mechanism to protect the confidentiality of correspondence and to have some means of detecting tampering. ^[30] Julius Caesar is credited with the invention of the Caesar cipher c. 50 B.C., which was created in order to prevent his secret messages from being read should a message fall into the wrong hands. ^[31] However, for the most part protection was achieved through the application of procedural handling controls. ^{[32] [33]} Sensitive information was marked up to indicate that it should be protected and transported by trusted persons, guarded and stored in a secure environment or strong box. ^[34] As postal services expanded, governments created official organizations to intercept, decipher, read, and reseal letters (e.g., the U.K.'s Secret Office, founded in 1653 ^[35] ).

In the mid-nineteenth century more complex classification systems were developed to allow governments to manage their information according to the degree of sensitivity. ^[36] For example, the British Government codified this, to some extent, with the publication of the Official Secrets Act in 1889. ^[37] Section 1 of the law concerned espionage and unlawful disclosures of information, while Section 2 dealt with breaches of official trust. ^[38] A public interest defense was soon added to defend disclosures in the interest of the state. ^[39] A similar law was passed in India in 1889, The Indian Official Secrets Act, which was associated with the British colonial era and used to crack down on newspapers that opposed the Raj's policies. ^[40] A newer version was passed in 1923 that extended to all matters of confidential or secret information for governance. ^[41] By the time of the First World War, multi-tier classification systems were used to communicate information to and from various fronts, which encouraged greater use of code making and breaking sections in diplomatic and military headquarters. ^[42] Encoding became more sophisticated between the wars as machines were employed to scramble and unscramble information. ^[43]

The establishment of computer security inaugurated the history of information security. The need for such appeared during World War II. ^[44] The volume of information shared by the Allied countries during the Second World War necessitated formal alignment of classification systems and procedural controls. ^[45] An arcane range of markings evolved to indicate who could handle documents (usually officers rather than enlisted troops) and where they should be stored as increasingly complex safes and storage facilities were developed. ^[46] The Enigma Machine, which was employed by the Germans to encrypt the data of warfare and was successfully decrypted by Alan Turing, can be regarded as a striking example of creating and using secured information. ^[47] Procedures evolved to ensure documents were destroyed properly, and it was the failure to follow these procedures which led to some of the greatest intelligence coups of the war (e.g., the capture of U-570 ^[47] ).

Various mainframe computers were connected online during the Cold War to complete more sophisticated tasks, in a communication process easier than mailing magnetic tapes back and forth by computer centers. As such, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), of the United States Department of Defense, started researching the feasibility of a networked system of communication to trade information within the United States Armed Forces. In 1968, the ARPANET project was formulated by Larry Roberts, which would later evolve into what is known as the internet. ^[48]

In 1973, important elements of ARPANET security were found by internet pioneer Robert Metcalfe to have many flaws such as the: "vulnerability of password structure and formats; lack of safety procedures for dial-up connections; and nonexistent user identification and authorizations", aside from the lack of controls and safeguards to keep data safe from unauthorized access. Hackers had effortless access to ARPANET, as phone numbers were known by the public. ^[49] Due to these problems, coupled with the constant violation of computer security, as well as the exponential increase in the number of hosts and users of the system, "network security" was often alluded to as "network insecurity". ^[49]

The end of the twentieth century and the early years of the twenty-first century saw rapid advancements in telecommunications, computing hardware and software, and data encryption. ^[50] The availability of smaller, more powerful, and less expensive computing equipment made electronic data processing within the reach of small business and home users. ^[51] The establishment of Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) in the early 1980s enabled different types of computers to communicate. ^[52] These computers quickly became interconnected through the internet. ^[53]

The rapid growth and widespread use of electronic data processing and electronic business conducted through the internet, along with numerous occurrences of international terrorism, fueled the need for better methods of protecting the computers and the information they store, process, and transmit. ^[54] The academic disciplines of computer security and information assurance emerged along with numerous professional organizations, all sharing the common goals of ensuring the security and reliability of information systems. ^[55]

Security Goals

Risk management

Risk is the likelihood that something bad will happen that causes harm to an informational asset (or the loss of the asset). ^[85] A vulnerability is a weakness that could be used to endanger or cause harm to an informational asset. A threat is anything (man-made or act of nature) that has the potential to cause harm. ^[86] The likelihood that a threat will use a vulnerability to cause harm creates a risk. When a threat does use a vulnerability to inflict harm, it has an impact. ^[87] In the context of information security, the impact is a loss of availability, integrity, and confidentiality, and possibly other losses (lost income, loss of life, loss of real property). ^[88]

The Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Review Manual 2006 defines risk management as "the process of identifying vulnerabilities and threats to the information resources used by an organization in achieving business objectives, and deciding what countermeasures, ^[89] if any, to take in reducing risk to an acceptable level, based on the value of the information resource to the organization." ^[90]

There are two things in this definition that may need some clarification. First, the process of risk management is an ongoing, iterative process. It must be repeated indefinitely. The business environment is constantly changing and new threats and vulnerabilities emerge every day. ^[91] Second, the choice of countermeasures (controls) used to manage risks must strike a balance between productivity, cost, effectiveness of the countermeasure, and the value of the informational asset being protected. ^[92] Furthermore, these processes have limitations as security breaches are generally rare and emerge in a specific context which may not be easily duplicated. ^[93] Thus, any process and countermeasure should itself be evaluated for vulnerabilities. ^[94] It is not possible to identify all risks, nor is it possible to eliminate all risk. The remaining risk is called "residual risk". ^[95]

A risk assessment is carried out by a team of people who have knowledge of specific areas of the business. ^[96] Membership of the team may vary over time as different parts of the business are assessed. ^[97] The assessment may use a subjective qualitative analysis based on informed opinion, or where reliable dollar figures and historical information is available, the analysis may use quantitative analysis.

Research has shown that the most vulnerable point in most information systems is the human user, operator, designer, or other human. ^[98] The ISO/IEC 27002:2005 Code of practice for information security management recommends the following be examined during a risk assessment:

• security policy,
• organization of information security,
• asset management,
• human resources security,
• physical and environmental security,
• communications and operations management,
• access control,
• information systems acquisition, development, and maintenance,
• information security incident management,
• business continuity management
• regulatory compliance.

In broad terms, the risk management process consists of: ^{[99] [100]}

1. Identification of assets and estimating their value. Include: people, buildings, hardware, software, data (electronic, print, other), supplies. ^[101]
2. Conduct a threat assessment. Include: Acts of nature, acts of war, accidents, malicious acts originating from inside or outside the organization. ^[102]
3. Conduct a vulnerability assessment, and for each vulnerability, calculate the probability that it will be exploited. Evaluate policies, procedures, standards, training, physical security, quality control, technical security. ^[103]
4. Calculate the impact that each threat would have on each asset. Use qualitative analysis or quantitative analysis. ^[104]
5. Identify, select and implement appropriate controls. Provide a proportional response. Consider productivity, cost effectiveness, and value of the asset. ^[105]
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of the control measures. Ensure the controls provide the required cost effective protection without discernible loss of productivity. ^[106]

For any given risk, management can choose to accept the risk based upon the relative low value of the asset, the relative low frequency of occurrence, and the relative low impact on the business. ^[107] Or, leadership may choose to mitigate the risk by selecting and implementing appropriate control measures to reduce the risk. In some cases, the risk can be transferred to another business by buying insurance or outsourcing to another business. ^[108] The reality of some risks may be disputed. In such cases leadership may choose to deny the risk. ^[109]

Defense in depth

Defense in depth is a fundamental security philosophy that relies on overlapping security systems designed to maintain protection even if individual components fail. Rather than depending on a single security measure, it combines multiple layers of security controls both in the cloud and at network endpoints. This approach includes combinations like firewalls with intrusion-detection systems, email filtering services with desktop anti-virus, and cloud-based security alongside traditional network defenses. ^[115] The concept can be implemented through three distinct layers of administrative, logical, and physical controls, ^[116] or visualized as an onion model with data at the core, surrounded by people, network security, host-based security, and application security layers. ^[117] The strategy emphasizes that security involves not just technology, but also people and processes working together, with real-time monitoring and response being crucial components. ^[115]

Classification

An important aspect of information security and risk management is recognizing the value of information and defining appropriate procedures and protection requirements for the information. ^[118] Not all information is equal and so not all information requires the same degree of protection. ^[119] This requires information to be assigned a security classification. ^[120] The first step in information classification is to identify a member of senior management as the owner of the particular information to be classified. Next, develop a classification policy. ^[121] The policy should describe the different classification labels, define the criteria for information to be assigned a particular label, and list the required security controls for each classification. ^[122]

Some factors that influence which classification information should be assigned include how much value that information has to the organization, how old the information is and whether or not the information has become obsolete. ^[123] Laws and other regulatory requirements are also important considerations when classifying information. ^[124] The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and its Business Model for Information Security also serves as a tool for security professionals to examine security from a systems perspective, creating an environment where security can be managed holistically, allowing actual risks to be addressed. ^[125]

The type of information security classification labels selected and used will depend on the nature of the organization, with examples being: ^[122]

• In the business sector, labels such as: Public, Sensitive, Private, Confidential.
• In the government sector, labels such as: Unclassified, Unofficial, Protected, Confidential, Secret, Top Secret, and their non-English equivalents. ^[126]
• In cross-sectoral formations, the Traffic Light Protocol, which consists of: White, Green, Amber, and Red.
• In the personal sector, one label such as Financial. This includes activities related to managing money, such as online banking. ^[127]

All employees in the organization, as well as business partners, must be trained on the classification schema and understand the required security controls and handling procedures for each classification. ^[128] The classification of a particular information asset that has been assigned should be reviewed periodically to ensure the classification is still appropriate for the information and to ensure the security controls required by the classification are in place and are followed in their right procedures. ^[129]

Access control

Access to protected information must be restricted to people who are authorized to access the information. ^[130] The computer programs, and in many cases the computers that process the information, must also be authorized. ^[131] This requires that mechanisms be in place to control the access to protected information. ^[131] The sophistication of the access control mechanisms should be in parity with the value of the information being protected; the more sensitive or valuable the information the stronger the control mechanisms need to be. ^[132] The foundation on which access control mechanisms are built start with identification and authentication. ^[133]

Access control is generally considered in three steps: identification, authentication, and authorization. ^{[134] [61]}

Cryptography

Information security uses cryptography to transform usable information into a form that renders it unusable by anyone other than an authorized user; this process is called encryption. ^[168] Information that has been encrypted (rendered unusable) can be transformed back into its original usable form by an authorized user who possesses the cryptographic key, through the process of decryption. ^[169] Cryptography is used in information security to protect information from unauthorized or accidental disclosure while the information is in transit (either electronically or physically) and while information is in storage. ^[61]

Cryptography provides information security with other useful applications as well, including improved authentication methods, message digests, digital signatures, non-repudiation, and encrypted network communications. ^[170] Older, less secure applications such as Telnet and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) are slowly being replaced with more secure applications such as Secure Shell (SSH) that use encrypted network communications. ^[171] Wireless communications can be encrypted using protocols such as WPA/WPA2 or the older (and less secure) WEP. Wired communications (such as ITU‑T G.hn) are secured using AES for encryption and X.1035 for authentication and key exchange. ^[172] Software applications such as GnuPG or PGP can be used to encrypt data files and email. ^[173]

Cryptography can introduce security problems when it is not implemented correctly. ^[174] Cryptographic solutions need to be implemented using industry-accepted solutions that have undergone rigorous peer review by independent experts in cryptography. ^[175] The length and strength of the encryption key is also an important consideration. ^[176] A key that is weak or too short will produce weak encryption. ^[176] The keys used for encryption and decryption must be protected with the same degree of rigor as any other confidential information. ^[177] They must be protected from unauthorized disclosure and destruction, and they must be available when needed.^{[ citation needed ]} Public key infrastructure (PKI) solutions address many of the problems that surround key management. ^[61]

Process

U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines now make it possible to hold corporate officers liable for failing to exercise due care and due diligence in the management of their information systems. ^[178]

In the field of information security, Harris ^[179] offers the following definitions of due care and due diligence:

"Due care are steps that are taken to show that a company has taken responsibility for the activities that take place within the corporation and has taken the necessary steps to help protect the company, its resources, and employees ^[180] ." And, [Due diligence are the]"continual activities that make sure the protection mechanisms are continually maintained and operational." ^[181]

Attention should be made to two important points in these definitions. ^{[182] [183]} First, in due care, steps are taken to show; this means that the steps can be verified, measured, or even produce tangible artifacts. ^{[184] [185]} Second, in due diligence, there are continual activities; this means that people are actually doing things to monitor and maintain the protection mechanisms, and these activities are ongoing. ^[186]

Organizations have a responsibility with practicing duty of care when applying information security. The Duty of Care Risk Analysis Standard (DoCRA) ^[187] provides principles and practices for evaluating risk. ^[188] It considers all parties that could be affected by those risks. ^[189] DoCRA helps evaluate safeguards if they are appropriate in protecting others from harm while presenting a reasonable burden. ^[190] With increased data breach litigation, companies must balance security controls, compliance, and its mission. ^[191]

Business continuity

Business continuity management (BCM) concerns arrangements aiming to protect an organization's critical business functions from interruption due to incidents, or at least minimize the effects. ^{[255] [256]} BCM is essential to any organization to keep technology and business in line with current threats to the continuation of business as usual. ^[257] The BCM should be included in an organizations risk analysis plan to ensure that all of the necessary business functions have what they need to keep going in the event of any type of threat to any business function. ^[258]

It encompasses:

• Analysis of requirements, e.g., identifying critical business functions, dependencies and potential failure points, potential threats and hence incidents or risks of concern to the organization; ^{[259] [260]}
• Specification, e.g., maximum tolerable outage periods; recovery point objectives (maximum acceptable periods of data loss); ^[261]
• Architecture and design, e.g., an appropriate combination of approaches including resilience (e.g. engineering IT systems and processes for high availability, ^[262] avoiding or preventing situations that might interrupt the business), incident and emergency management (e.g., evacuating premises, calling the emergency services, triage/situation ^[263] assessment and invoking recovery plans), recovery (e.g., rebuilding) and contingency management (generic capabilities to deal positively with whatever occurs using whatever resources are available); ^[264]
• Implementation, e.g., configuring and scheduling backups, data transfers, etc., duplicating and strengthening critical elements; contracting with service and equipment suppliers;
• Testing, e.g., business continuity exercises of various types, costs and assurance levels; ^[265]
• Management, e.g., defining strategies, setting objectives and goals; planning and directing the work; allocating funds, people and other resources; prioritization relative to other activities; team building, leadership, control, motivation and coordination with other business functions and activities ^[266] (e.g., IT, facilities, human resources, risk management, information risk and security, operations); monitoring the situation, checking and updating the arrangements when things change; maturing the approach through continuous improvement, learning and appropriate investment;^{[ citation needed ]}
• Assurance, e.g., testing against specified requirements; measuring, analyzing, and reporting key parameters; conducting additional tests, reviews and audits for greater confidence that the arrangements will go to plan if invoked. ^[267]

Whereas BCM takes a broad approach to minimizing disaster-related risks by reducing both the probability and the severity of incidents, a disaster recovery plan (DRP) focuses specifically on resuming business operations as quickly as possible after a disaster. ^[268] A disaster recovery plan, invoked soon after a disaster occurs, lays out the steps necessary to recover critical information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. ^[269] Disaster recovery planning includes establishing a planning group, performing risk assessment, establishing priorities, developing recovery strategies, preparing inventories and documentation of the plan, developing verification criteria and procedure, and lastly implementing the plan. ^[270]

Laws and regulations

Below is a partial listing of governmental laws and regulations in various parts of the world that have, had, or will have, a significant effect on data processing and information security. ^{[271] [272]} Important industry sector regulations have also been included when they have a significant impact on information security. ^[271]

• The UK Data Protection Act 1998 makes new provisions for the regulation of the processing of information relating to individuals, including the obtaining, holding, use or disclosure of such information. ^{[273] [274]} The European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD) requires that all E.U. members adopt national regulations to standardize the protection of data privacy for citizens throughout the E.U. ^{[275] [276]}
• The Computer Misuse Act 1990 is an Act of the U.K. Parliament making computer crime (e.g., hacking) a criminal offense. ^[277] The act has become a model upon which several other countries, ^[278] including Canada and Ireland, have drawn inspiration from when subsequently drafting their own information security laws. ^{[279] [280]}
• The E.U.'s Data Retention Directive (annulled) required internet service providers and phone companies to keep data on every electronic message sent and phone call made for between six months and two years. ^[281]
• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C.   § 1232 g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a U.S. Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. ^[282] The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. ^[283] Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student ^{[283] [284]} in order to release any information from a student's education record. ^[285]
• The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's (FFIEC) security guidelines for auditors specifies requirements for online banking security. ^[286]
• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 requires the adoption of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers. ^[287] Additionally, it requires health care providers, insurance providers and employers to safeguard the security and privacy of health data. ^[288]
• The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, protects the privacy and security of private financial information that financial institutions collect, hold, and process. ^[289]
• Section 404 of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) requires publicly traded companies to assess the effectiveness of their internal controls for financial reporting in annual reports they submit at the end of each fiscal year. ^[290] Chief information officers are responsible for the security, accuracy, and the reliability of the systems that manage and report the financial data. ^[291] The act also requires publicly traded companies to engage with independent auditors who must attest to, and report on, the validity of their assessments. ^[292]
• The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) establishes comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security. ^[293] It was developed by the founding payment brands of the PCI Security Standards Council — including American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide, ^[294] and Visa International — to help facilitate the broad adoption of consistent data security measures on a global basis. ^[295] The PCI DSS is a multifaceted security standard that includes requirements for security management, policies, procedures, network architecture, software design, and other critical protective measures. ^[296]
• State security breach notification laws (California and many others) require businesses, nonprofits, and state institutions to notify consumers when unencrypted "personal information" may have been compromised, lost, or stolen. ^[297]
• The Personal Information Protection and Electronics Document Act (PIPEDA) of Canada supports and promotes electronic commerce by protecting personal information that is collected, used or disclosed in certain circumstances, ^{[298] [299]} by providing for the use of electronic means to communicate or record information or transactions and by amending the Canada Evidence Act, the Statutory Instruments Act and the Statute Revision Act. ^{[300] [301] [302]}
• Greece's Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) (Law 165/2011) establishes and describes the minimum information security controls that should be deployed by every company which provides electronic communication networks and/or services in Greece in order to protect customers' confidentiality. ^[303] These include both managerial and technical controls (e.g., log records should be stored for two years). ^[304]
• Greece's Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) (Law 205/2013) concentrates around the protection of the integrity and availability of the services and data offered by Greek telecommunication companies. ^[305] The law forces these and other related companies to build, deploy, and test appropriate business continuity plans and redundant infrastructures. ^[306]

The US Department of Defense (DoD) issued DoD Directive 8570 in 2004, supplemented by DoD Directive 8140, requiring all DoD employees and all DoD contract personnel involved in information assurance roles and activities to earn and maintain various industry Information Technology (IT) certifications in an effort to ensure that all DoD personnel involved in network infrastructure defense have minimum levels of IT industry recognized knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA). Andersson and Reimers (2019) report these certifications range from CompTIA's A+ and Security+ through the ICS2.org's CISSP, etc. ^[307]

Culture

Describing more than simply how security aware employees are, information security culture is the ideas, customs, and social behaviors of an organization that impact information security in both positive and negative ways. ^[308] Cultural concepts can help different segments of the organization work effectively or work against effectiveness towards information security within an organization. The way employees think and feel about security and the actions they take can have a big impact on information security in organizations. Roer & Petric (2017) identify seven core dimensions of information security culture in organizations: ^[309]

• Attitudes: employees' feelings and emotions about the various activities that pertain to the organizational security of information. ^[310]
• Behaviors: actual or intended activities and risk-taking actions of employees that have direct or indirect impact on information security.
• Cognition: employees' awareness, verifiable knowledge, and beliefs regarding practices, activities, and self-efficacy relation that are related to information security.
• Communication: ways employees communicate with each other, sense of belonging, support for security issues, and incident reporting.
• Compliance: adherence to organizational security policies, awareness of the existence of such policies and the ability to recall the substance of such policies.
• Norms: perceptions of security-related organizational conduct and practices that are informally deemed either normal or deviant by employees and their peers, e.g. hidden expectations regarding security behaviors and unwritten rules regarding uses of information-communication technologies.
• Responsibilities: employees' understanding of the roles and responsibilities they have as a critical factor in sustaining or endangering the security of information, and thereby the organization.

Andersson and Reimers (2014) found that employees often do not see themselves as part of the organization Information Security "effort" and often take actions that ignore organizational information security best interests. ^[311] Research shows information security culture needs to be improved continuously. In Information Security Culture from Analysis to Change, authors commented, "It's a never ending process, a cycle of evaluation and change or maintenance." To manage the information security culture, five steps should be taken: pre-evaluation, strategic planning, operative planning, implementation, and post-evaluation. ^[312]

• Pre-evaluation: to identify the awareness of information security within employees and to analyze current security policy
• Strategic planning: to come up a better awareness-program, we need to set clear targets. Clustering people is helpful to achieve it
• Operative planning: create a good security culture based on internal communication, management buy-in, security awareness, and training programs
• Implementation: should feature commitment of management, communication with organizational members, courses for all organizational members, and commitment of the employees ^[312]
• Post-evaluation: to better gauge the effectiveness of the prior steps and build on continuous improvement

Other definitions

Various definitions of information security are suggested below, summarized from different sources:

1. "Preservation of confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. Note: In addition, other properties, such as authenticity, accountability, non-repudiation and reliability can also be involved." (ISO/IEC 27000:2018) ^[314]
2. "The protection of information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to provide confidentiality, integrity, and availability." (CNSS, 2010) ^[315]
3. "Ensures that only authorized users (confidentiality) have access to accurate and complete information (integrity) when required (availability)." (ISACA, 2008) ^[316]
4. "Information Security is the process of protecting the intellectual property of an organisation." (Pipkin, 2000) ^[317]
5. "...information security is a risk management discipline, whose job is to manage the cost of information risk to the business." (McDermott and Geer, 2001) ^[318]
6. "A well-informed sense of assurance that information risks and controls are in balance." (Anderson, J., 2003) ^[319]
7. "Information security is the protection of information and minimizes the risk of exposing information to unauthorized parties." (Venter and Eloff, 2003) ^[320]
8. "Information Security is a multidisciplinary area of study and professional activity which is concerned with the development and implementation of security mechanisms of all available types (technical, organizational, human-oriented and legal) in order to keep information in all its locations (within and outside the organization's perimeter) and, consequently, information systems, where information is created, processed, stored, transmitted and destroyed, free from threats. ^[321]
9. Information and information resource security using telecommunication system or devices means protecting information, information systems or books from unauthorized access, damage, theft, or destruction (Kurose and Ross, 2010). ^[322]

See also

• Gordon–Loeb model for information security investments

Related Research Articles

Computer security is the protection of computer software, systems and networks from threats that can lead to unauthorized information disclosure, theft or damage to hardware, software, or data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from many business activities. ERP systems can be local-based or cloud-based. Cloud-based applications have grown in recent years due to the increased efficiencies arising from information being readily available from any location with Internet access.

Risk management is the identification, evaluation, and prioritization of risks, followed by the minimization, monitoring, and control of the impact or probability of those risks occurring. Risks can come from various sources including uncertainty in international markets, political instability, dangers of project failures, legal liabilities, credit risk, accidents, natural causes and disasters, deliberate attack from an adversary, or events of uncertain or unpredictable root-cause.

An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems comprise four components: task, people, structure, and technology. Information systems can be defined as an integration of components for collection, storage and processing of data, comprising digital products that process data to facilitate decision making and the data being used to provide information and contribute to knowledge.

Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data, which also falls under and directly relates to the umbrella term, data science. Analytics also entails applying data patterns toward effective decision-making. It can be valuable in areas rich with recorded information; analytics relies on the simultaneous application of statistics, computer programming, and operations research to quantify performance.

Network security consists of the policies, processes and practices adopted to prevent, detect and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network security involves the authorization of access to data in a network, which is controlled by the network administrator. Users choose or are assigned an ID and password or other authenticating information that allows them access to information and programs within their authority. Network security covers a variety of computer networks, both public and private, that are used in everyday jobs: conducting transactions and communications among businesses, government agencies and individuals. Networks can be private, such as within a company, and others which might be open to public access. Network security is involved in organizations, enterprises, and other types of institutions. It does as its title explains: it secures the network, as well as protecting and overseeing operations being done. The most common and simple way of protecting a network resource is by assigning it a unique name and a corresponding password.

Identity and access management, sometimes also referred to as just Identity management (IdM), is a framework of policies and technologies to ensure that the right users have the appropriate access to technology resources. IAM systems fall under the overarching umbrellas of IT security and data management. Identity and access management systems not only identify, authenticate, and control access for individuals who will be utilizing IT resources but also the hardware and applications employees need to access.

In the context of software engineering, software quality refers to two related but distinct notions:

An information security audit is an audit of the level of information security in an organization. It is an independent review and examination of system records, activities, and related documents. These audits are intended to improve the level of information security, avoid improper information security designs, and optimize the efficiency of the security safeguards and security processes.

SAP ERP is enterprise resource planning software developed by the German company SAP SE. SAP ERP incorporates the key business functions of an organization. The latest version of SAP ERP (V.6.0) was made available in 2006. The most recent SAP enhancement package 8 for SAP ERP 6.0 was released in 2016. It is now considered legacy technology, having been superseded by SAP S/4HANA.

Information assurance (IA) is the practice of assuring information and managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information. Information assurance includes protection of the integrity, availability, authenticity, non-repudiation and confidentiality of user data. IA encompasses both digital protections and physical techniques. These methods apply to data in transit, both physical and electronic forms, as well as data at rest. IA is best thought of as a superset of information security, and as the business outcome of information risk management.

Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The Internet of things encompasses electronics, communication, and computer science engineering. "Internet of things" has been considered a misnomer because devices do not need to be connected to the public internet; they only need to be connected to a network and be individually addressable.

Computer security software or cybersecurity software is any computer program designed to influence information security. This is often taken in the context of defending computer systems or data, yet can incorporate programs designed specifically for subverting computer systems due to their significant overlap, and the adage that the best defense is a good offense.

Cloud computing security or, more simply, cloud security, refers to a broad set of policies, technologies, applications, and controls utilized to protect virtualized IP, data, applications, services, and the associated infrastructure of cloud computing. It is a sub-domain of computer security, network security, and, more broadly, information security.

Security information and event management (SIEM) is a field within computer security that combines security information management (SIM) and security event management (SEM) to enable real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware. SIEM systems are central to security operations centers (SOCs), where they are employed to detect, investigate, and respond to security incidents. SIEM technology collects and aggregates data from various systems, allowing organizations to meet compliance requirements while safeguarding against threats.

The Risk Management Framework (RMF) is a United States federal government guideline, standard, and process for managing risk to help secure information systems. The RMF was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and provides a structured process that integrates information security, privacy, and risk management activities into the system development life cycle. The RMF is an important aspect of a systems attainment of its Authority to Operate (ATO).

IT risk management is the application of risk management methods to information technology in order to manage IT risk. Various methodologies exist to manage IT risks, each involving specific processes and steps.

Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data and information processing, and storage. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system is generally an information system, a communications system, or, more specifically speaking, a computer system — including all hardware, software, and peripheral equipment — operated by a limited group of IT users, and an IT project usually refers to the commissioning and implementation of an IT system. IT systems play a vital role in facilitating efficient data management, enhancing communication networks, and supporting organizational processes across various industries. Successful IT projects require meticulous planning, seamless integration, and ongoing maintenance to ensure optimal functionality and alignment with organizational objectives.

A cyberattack occurs when there is an unauthorized action against computer infrastructure that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its content.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is a set of voluntary guidelines designed to help organizations assess and improve their ability to prevent, detect, and respond to cybersecurity risks. Developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the framework was initially published in 2014 for critical infrastructure sectors but has since been widely adopted across various industries, including government and private enterprises globally. The framework integrates existing standards, guidelines, and best practices to provide a structured approach to cybersecurity risk management.

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Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Information security .

• DoD IA Policy Chart Archived 2011-09-06 at the Wayback Machine on the DoD Information Assurance Technology Analysis Center web site.
• patterns & practices Security Engineering Explained
• IWS – Information Security Chapter Archived 2019-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
• Ross Anderson's book "Security Engineering"