What is Information Security (InfoSec)?

 Information security definition

Information security is a set of practices designed to keep personal data secure from unauthorized access and alteration during storing or transmitting from one place to another.

Information security is designed and implemented to protect the print, electronic and other private, sensitive and personal data from unauthorized persons. It is used to protect data from being misused, disclosure, destruction, modification, and disruption.

Information security vs. cybersecurity

Information security and cybersecurity may be used substitutable but are two different things. Cybersecurity is a practice used to provide security from online attacks, while information security is a specific discipline that falls under cybersecurity. Information security is focusing on network and App code.

Information security principle

There are some basic components of information security which are discussed below.

• Confidentiality is one of the basic elements of information security. Data is confidential when only authorized people access it. To ensure confidentiality one needs to use all the techniques designed for security like strong password, encryption, authentication and defence against penetration attacks.

• Integrity refers to maintaining data and preventing it from modifications either accidentally or maliciously. Techniques used for confidentiality may protect data integrity as a cybercriminal can’t change data when they can’t get access to it. To ensure integrity in-depth few tools help in improving it.

• Availability is another basic element in information security. It is vital to make sure that your data is not accessed by unauthorized persons but only those who have permission can access it. Availability in information security means matching network and computing resources to compute data access and implement a better policy for disaster recovery purposes.

Information security policy

Information security policy is a document that an enterprise draws up, based on its specific needs and quirks. It helps to establish what data to protect and in what ways. These policies guide an organization during the decision making about procuring cybersecurity tools. It also mandates employee behaviour and responsibilities.

An organization information security policy should include

• It should describe the purpose of the InfoSec program and objectives
• It must define the key terms used in the document to ensure shared understanding
• It must contain password policy
• It should determine who has access to what data
• It must include the employee’s roles and responsibilities to safeguard data.