Elements of Information Security

Information Security is defined as “a state of well-being of information and infrastructure in which the possibility of theft, tampering, and disruption of information and services is kept low or tolerable.” It relies on 5 major elements : confidentiality, integrity, availability, authenticity, and non-repudiation.

Confidentiality:- Assurance that the information is accessible only to those “authorized to have access.”

Integrity:- The “trustworthiness of data or resources” in terms of preventing improper and unauthorized changes.

Availability:- Assurance that the systems responsible for delivering, storing, and processing information are accessible when “required by the authorized users.”

Authenticity:- Authenticity refers to the characteristic of a communication, document or any data that ensures the “quality of being genuine.”

Non-Repudiation:- “Guarantee” that the sender of a message cannot later deny having sent the message and that the recipient cannot deny received the message.