What is Information Security (InfoSec)?

Data is many organizations’ most valuable resource, and protecting it is of prime importance. Information security (InfoSec) is the practice of protecting data against a range of potential threats. This includes cyberattacks, physical threats, and disruptions such as natural disasters or internet outages. InfoSec is divided into many different fields, including cybersecurity, application security (AppSec), and infrastructure security, and includes controls such as access controls and physical defenses.

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Three Principles of Information Security

The “CIA Triad” describes the three principles of information security or the goals that an information security solution may be designed to achieve.

Confidentiality: Confidentiality refers to protecting information from unauthorized access or potential disclosure. Encryption, access controls, and similar solutions are designed to protect confidentiality.
Integrity: Integrity refers to ensuring that unauthorized modifications to data can’t be performed without detection. Hashes, checksums, and digital signatures are examples of solutions designed to ensure information integrity.
Availability: Availability measures whether systems or data are available to legitimate users. Backups, load balancing, and similar solutions are designed to ensure availability.

Types of Information Security

Information security is quite a broad field. Some of the main types of information security include the following:

Application Security: Applications — both on-premises and SaaS — store and process a wide range of potentially sensitive data. Securing these applications against potential exploitation is essential to protecting an organization’s sensitive data.
Cloud Security: Companies are increasingly embracing cloud infrastructure to store data and host applications. Cloud security is a common challenge due to the complexity of cloud configuration management, sprawling cloud infrastructures, and unfamiliarity with cloud security risks and controls.
Cryptography: Cryptographic algorithms are commonly used to ensure data confidentiality and integrity. The use of encryption, digital signatures, and similar security controls is important for information security.
Infrastructure Security: Many companies have complex IT infrastructure that is used to store and process sensitive data. Infrastructure security deals with securing these underlying IT systems.
Incident Response: Incident responders are responsible for investigating and remediating potential cyberattacks. An organization should have an incident response plan and team in place to respond to potential threats to its sensitive data.
Vulnerability Management: Vulnerabilities in software can be exploited to access data or deploy malware. Vulnerability management is the process of identifying and remediating vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems.

Information Security Threats

An organization’s data can be leaked, breached, destroyed, or otherwise impacted in a variety of ways. Some common information security threats include the following:

Vulnerable Systems: Most modern organizations store and process their data on computer systems. If these systems contain vulnerabilities, an attacker may be able to exploit these vulnerabilities to gain access to the data that they contain.
Social Engineering: Social engineering is one of the most common information security threats that companies face. It involves the use of deception, manipulation, or coercion to get a user to take some action, such as installing malware or handing over sensitive data.
Malware: Many types of malware — such as information stealers and ransomware — are designed to target an organization’s data. If an attacker can install malware on an organization’s systems, they can use the malware to steal, encrypt, or destroy data.
Missing Encryption: Encryption is one of the most effective ways to protect data against unauthorized access and potential leakage. Failing to encrypt data leaves it vulnerable to potential breaches.
Security Misconfigurations: Systems and applications have various configuration options that can impact their security. If these configurations are set improperly, they may leave data vulnerable to unauthorized access.

Information Security vs. Cybersecurity

Information security and cybersecurity are related but distinct terms even though they are often used interchangeably. The two areas have significant overlap but also non-overlapping areas. Information security focuses on protecting data against all threats. While this includes cyber threats, it also includes non-technical attacks, such as physical security.

Cybersecurity focuses on protecting specifically against cyber threats or attacks using computer systems. Like information security, cybersecurity is designed to protect data, but it can also defend other aspects of an organization’s IT infrastructure against attacks.

Data Protection Laws and Information Security

Information security is a core area of focus for data protection laws such as:

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
Federal Trade Commission Act
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
Fair Credit Reporting Act

These and other data protection laws commonly mandate that an organization have security controls in place to protect sensitive data. A robust information security program is essential to meeting these compliance requirements.

Information Security with Check Point

Information security is vital to an organization’s protection of sensitive data. To effectively protect their data, an organization needs to implement a wide range of security capabilities. To learn about some of the biggest threats to an organization and its data, check out Check Point’s 2023 Cyber Security Report.

Furthermore, if you’re interested in learning more about the potential risks to your data, you’re welcome to take Check Point’s free security checkup.