
Data security’s three unbreakable pillars
The CIA triad is an important security principle. It’s known as the “three-legged stool” because it ensures data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Data must be protected from unauthorized access at all times. If any one leg of your stool is breached, then you have to replace it with another one that meets the same security standards as the first one did before you can continue operating effectively in this new environment where there are now multiple potential threats that could compromise your business operations and/or personal information security.
The CIA triad is an important security principle. It’s a three-pronged approach to protecting your organization from cyberthreats, and it consists of:
- An internal control structure that includes policies and procedures for protecting data.
- A well-trained workforce with the right tools to do their jobs effectively.
Confidentiality — keeping information protected
The CIA triad is the most important part of information security. Confidentiality is the first step in protecting your data from unauthorized access, and it’s essential for any business to have a sound approach to confidentiality.
A common misconception about confidentiality is that you should protect files by encrypting them so no one can read them. But if you’re trying to keep sensitive information safe from prying eyes, then using strong encryption methods will be necessary (and worth their weight in gold).
Integrity — ensuring that data is correct and complete
Integrity is important because it ensures that data is correct and complete. For example, if a person was filling out his tax return and the information on the form was incorrect, then integrity would be compromised.
Integrity also ensures that data is not changed or deleted in any way by someone else who might want to use it for different purposes than what was originally intended. This can happen when an employee uses company computers for personal reasons (such as checking their e-mail), or when a hacker breaks into an organization’s network and steals sensitive information such as financial records or classified military documents.
Integrity prevents corruption of data by making sure there are no unauthorized changes made to it during its transmission or storage process; this helps prevent confusion among users who might think they’re seeing different versions of some piece of information than were actually transmitted over time via communication channels such as phone lines/cables/wires etc.
Availability — ensuring timely access to data
Availability means that your information will be available to your end users when they need it. The term “available” means that you can retrieve data and make sense of it without having to go through a lot of trouble or spend a lot of time on it. This can be achieved by keeping backups of all important files in case something happens to them (like an accident), or storing copies offsite so they aren’t susceptible to data loss if there’s an emergency at work or home.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the CIA triad is an important security principle. It helps to ensure that your data is protected and available when you need it most. It’s a good idea to keep these principles in mind when designing your own solutions so that they can meet the needs of both your organization and its customers.
Cybersecurity Series
Continue your Cybersecurity Learning.
It’s Time to Take Cybersecurity Seriously
A person that needs to safeguard their Instagram account will define Cybersecurity much differently than an organization that deals with patient data, and even that organization will define it differently than a government that’s safeguarding its citizens.

Data security’s three unbreakable pillars
Part two of our cybersecurity foundations series breaks down the CIA triad: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. See how each pillar protects data, examine real-world failures, and learn practical controls to balance all three in modern systems.

When traffic turns into a weapon.
Cybersecurity — P3: What is a Denial of Service (DoS) Attack?
Part three of our cybersecurity foundations series explains Denial of Service (DoS) attacks—overwhelming a target with traffic or resource requests to knock services offline. Learn major DoS variants, attacker motives, real-world fallout, and essential mitigation tactics.

