Understanding CIA Triad In Cyber Security

Information security deals with protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. In this article, I will be talking about CIA Triad in cyber security. Follow me as we are going to look at that together in this article.

CIA Triad

As shown in the figure, the CIA triad consists of three components of information security:

Confidentiality – Only authorized individuals, entities, or processes can access sensitive information.
Integrity – This refers to the protection of data from unauthorized alteration.
Availability – Authorized users must have uninterrupted access to the network resources and data that they require.

Network data can be encrypted (made unreadable to unauthorized users) using various cryptography applications. The conversation between two IP phone users can be encrypted. The files on a computer can also be encrypted. These are just a few examples. Cryptography can be used almost anywhere that there is data communication. In fact, the trend is toward all communication being encrypted.

Zero Trust Security

Zero trust is a comprehensive approach to securing all access across networks, applications, and environments. This approach helps secure access from users, end-user devices, APIs, IoT, microservices, containers, and more. It protects an organization’s workforce, workloads, and workplace.

The principle of a zero-trust approach is, “never trust, always verify.” Assume zero trusts any time someone or something requests access to assets. A zero-trust security framework helps to prevent unauthorized access, contain breaches, and reduce the risk of an attacker’s lateral movement through a network.

Traditionally, the network perimeter, or edge, was the boundary between inside and outside, or trusted and untrusted. In a Zero trust approach, any place at which an access control decision is required should be considered a perimeter.

This means that although a user or other entity may have successfully passed access control previously, they are not trusted to access another area or resource until they are authenticated. In some cases, users may be required to authenticate multiple times and in different ways, to gain access to different layers of the network.

The three pillars of zero trust are workforce, workloads, and workplace.
Click on the buttons to learn more about the pillars of zero trust.

Zero Trust for the Workforce

Zero Trust for Workloads

Zero Trust for the Workplace

#1 Zero Trust for the Workforce

This pillar consists of people (e.g., employees, contractors, partners, and vendors) who access work applications by using their personal or corporate-managed devices. This pillar ensures only the right users and secure devices can access applications, regardless of location.

#2 Zero Trust for Workloads

#3 Zero Trust for Workplace

This pillar focuses on secure access for any and all devices, including on the internet of things (IoT), that connect to enterprise networks, such as user endpoints, physical and virtual servers, printers, cameras, HVAC systems, kiosks, infusion pumps, industrial control systems, and more.

Access Control Models

An organization must implement proper access controls to protect its network resources, information system resources, and information.
A security analyst should understand the different basic access control models to have a better understanding of how attackers can break the access controls.
The table lists various types of access control methods.

Access Control Models	Description
Discretionary access control (DAC)	This is the least restrictive model and allows users to control access to their data as owners of that data. DAC may use ACLs or other methods to specify which users or groups of users have access to the information.
Mandatory access control (MAC)	This applies the strictest access control and is typically used in military or mission critical applications. It assigns security level labels to information and enables users with access based on their security level clearance.
Role-based access control (RBAC)	Access decisions are based on an individual’s roles and responsibilities within the organization. Different roles are assigned security privileges, and individuals are assigned to the RBAC profile for the role. Roles may include different positions, job classifications or groups of job classifications. Also known as a type of non-discretionary access control.
Attribute-based access control (ABAC)	ABAC allows access based on attributes of the object (resource) to be accessed, the subject (user) accessing the resource, and environmental factors regarding how the object is to be accessed, such as time of day.
Rule-based access control (RBAC)	Network security staff specify sets of rules regarding or conditions that are associated with access to data or systems. These rules may specify permitted or denied IP addresses, or certain protocols and other conditions. Also known as Rule-Based RBAC.
Time-based access control (TAC)	TAC Allows access to network resources based on time and day.

Another access control model is the principle of least privilege, which specifies a limited, as-needed approach to granting user and process access rights to specific information and tools. The principle of least privilege states that users should be granted the minimum amount of access required to perform their work function.

A common exploit is known as privilege escalation. In this exploit, vulnerabilities in servers or access control systems are exploited to grant an unauthorized user, or software process, higher levels of privilege than they should have. After the privilege is granted, the threat actor can access sensitive information or take control of a system.

Action Point
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I know you might agree with some of the points that I have raised in this article. You might not agree with some of the issues raised. Let me know your views about the topic discussed. We will appreciate it if you can drop your comment. Thanks in anticipation.

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