Information security allows organizations to protect digital and analog information. It covers encryption, mobile computing, social media, and infrastructure and networks that contain private, financial, and corporate information. On the other hand, cybersecurity protects raw and purposeful data, but only from internet-based threats.
Organizations implement information security for a variety of reasons, mainly to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of company information. Because it encompasses many areas, it often involves implementing different types of security, including application security, infrastructure security, encryption, incident response, vulnerability management, and disaster recovery.
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This article provides an in-depth look at the field of information security.
What is Information Security?
InfoSec, or information security, is a set of tools and practices used to protect your digital and analog information. It covers various IT fields, including infrastructure and network security, auditing, and testing. Tools like authentication and permissions are used to restrict unauthorized users from accessing private information. These measures help prevent damage related to information theft, alteration, or loss.
Information Security vs. Cybersecurity
While both are security strategies, cybersecurity and information security cover different goals and scopes with some overlap. Information security is a broader category of protection, covering encryption, mobile computing, and social media. It focuses on securing information from non-personal threats like server failures or natural disasters. In contrast, cybersecurity covers only internet-based threats and digital data. Cybersecurity also provides coverage for raw, unclassified data, whereas information security does not.
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Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability
The principles of confidentiality, integrity, and availability work together as a foundation for guiding information security policies. Here's a brief overview of each principle:
Confidentiality:
Information should only be accessible to authorized parties.
Integrity:
Information should remain consistent, trustworthy, and accurate.
Availability:
Information should be accessible to authorized parties, even during failures, with minimal or no disruption.
Ideally, information security policies should seamlessly integrate all three principles, guiding organizations in evaluating new technologies and scenarios.
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Types of Information Security
When considering information security, there are several subtypes to be aware of. These subtypes cover specific types of information, tools used for protection, and areas where information needs protection, including:
Application Security:
Application security strategies protect applications and APIs. These strategies can prevent, detect, and correct errors or other vulnerabilities in your applications. Unsecured application and API vulnerabilities can provide a gateway to your broader systems, putting your information at risk.
Infrastructure Security:
Infrastructure security strategies protect infrastructure components, including networks, servers, client devices, mobile devices, and data centers. The increased connectivity between these elements and other infrastructure components puts information at risk without appropriate precautions.
Cloud Security:
Cloud security provides protection similar to application and infrastructure security but focuses on cloud-connected or cloud-based components and information. It adds additional safeguards and tools to address vulnerabilities that come from internet-facing services and shared environments, such as public clouds. It also tends to focus on centralized security management and tools, allowing security teams to maintain visibility into information and threats across distributed resources.
Endpoint Security:
Endpoint security helps protect end-user devices like laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets from cyber-attacks. Organizations apply endpoint security to protect devices used for business purposes, including those connected to a local network and those using cloud resources.
Encryption:
Encryption is a practice used to secure information by obfuscating its contents. When information is encrypted, it can only be accessed by users with the correct encryption key. Without this key, the information is incomprehensible. Security teams can use encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of information throughout its lifecycle, including during storage and transmission. However, once users decrypt the data, it becomes vulnerable to theft, exposure, or alteration.
Incident Response:
Incident response is a set of procedures and tools used to identify, investigate, and respond to threats or harmful events. It mitigates or eliminates damage to systems from attacks, natural disasters, system failures, or human error. This damage includes any harm to information, such as loss or theft.
Vulnerability Management:
Vulnerability management involves reducing the risks inherent in an application or system. This practice aims to discover and correct vulnerabilities before issues are exposed or exploited. The fewer vulnerabilities in a component or system, the more secure your information and resources.
Vulnerability management practices rely on testing, auditing, and scanning to identify issues. These processes are often automated to ensure components are evaluated according to set standards and vulnerabilities are discovered as quickly as possible. Another method you can use is threat hunting, which involves examining systems in real-time to identify threat indicators or potential vulnerabilities.
Disaster Recovery:
Disaster recovery strategies protect your organization from loss or damage due to unexpected events, such as ransomware attacks, natural disasters, or single points of failure. Disaster recovery strategies typically consider how to retrieve information, restore systems, and resume operations. Often, these strategies are part of a Business Continuity Management (BCM) plan, designed to enable organizations to maintain operations with minimal downtime.
Healthcare Data Management
Healthcare Data Management (HDM) facilitates the systematic organization of healthcare data in digital form. Common examples of HDM include:
Creating electronic medical records (EMRs) after a doctor's visit.
Scanning handwritten medical notes for storage in a digital repository.
The Role of an HR System in Information Security
An AI-powered Human Resources (HR) system contributes to information security in several ways, including:
Improved Access Management:
The system can analyze employee usage patterns and determine appropriate access levels for each user, reducing unauthorized access to sensitive data and reports.
Threat Detection:
The system can monitor employee behaviors and recognize unusual patterns indicative of breach attempts or non-compliance with security policies.
Enhanced Security Awareness:
Information security features within the HR system can provide tailored training for employees on security risks and prevention methods, reducing the likelihood of social engineering attacks and security lapses.
Identity and Access Management:
It helps manage identity verification processes and access with smart methods like two-factor authentication and facial recognition, enhancing data and resource security.
Predictive Analysis:
AI technologies can analyze large datasets to identify security trends and predict potential attacks, aiding in proactive measures to protect data.
An AI-driven HR system empowers security teams (SOCs, CISCO, and InfoSec) with greater visibility and control. With an AI-powered HR system, organizations can cover a wide range of information security risks, ensuring that information remains secure, accessible, and available.