INFORMATION AND CYBER SECURITY

Is Information Security the Same as Cybersecurity?

Information security and cybersecurity are often confused. Information security is a crucial part of cybersecurity, but it refers exclusively to the processes designed for data security. Cybersecurity is a more general term that includes InfoSec.

Information security also concerns itself with protection against unauthorized access, use, or modification. The big difference: This protection extends to any platform, including analog. Even a filing cabinet of paper documents might need an information security intervention. The genesis of any company’s security program should be information security. An information security expert puts a governance structure in place, which sets the framework for security strategies and ensures that they align with business objectives. The broader team must define the roles and responsibilities of each person to operate effectively.

What is Information Security?

Information security often referred to as InfoSec, refers to the processes and tools designed and deployed to protect sensitive business information from modification, disruption, destruction, and inspection.

Information security has three main points of focus:

1. Confidentiality: Ensures that information is only accessible to authorized people, usually by way of encryption.
2. Integrity: Protects people from being threatened and systems from being modified by unauthorized people and keeps data accurate and trustworthy.
3. Availability: Maintain and update all hardware and software so that the right people can access information whenever and however they need it.

What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is a field both vast and focused. Here, experts deal with the enormousness of the internet. They focus solely on the digital world.

Sometimes called computer security, the field involves a range of practices and technologies that protect networks, servers, intranets, and computer systems from attack. These practices also keep unauthorized people from gaining access to data.

Cyberattacks put a company’s entire IT infrastructure at risk. Cybersecurity professionals constantly battle schemes that fall into these broad categories:

• Phishing: A bad actor uses email or chats to elicit personal or secure information
• Pretexting: The threat impersonates an authority figure to garner information
• Baiting: Attackers leave a malware-infected device out to be used by an unsuspecting victim Quid pro quo: A promise of a reward in exchange for information​.

What is an information security management system (ISMS)?

An ISMS is a set of guidelines and processes created to help organizations in a data breach scenario. By having a formal set of guidelines, businesses can minimize risk and can ensure work continuity in case of a staff change. ISO 27001 is a well-known specification for a company ISMS.

Types of Information Security

1. Application security: Application security is a broad topic that covers software vulnerabilities in web and mobile applications and application programming interfaces (APIs). These vulnerabilities may be found in authentication or authorization of users, integrity of code and configurations, and mature policies and procedures. Application vulnerabilities can create entry points for significant InfoSec breaches. Application security is an important part of perimeter defense for InfoSec.
2. Cloud security: Cloud security focuses on building and hosting secure applications in cloud environments and securely consuming third-party cloud applications. “Cloud” simply means that the application is running in a shared environment. Businesses must make sure that there is adequate isolation between different processes in shared environments.
3. Cryptography: Encrypting data in transit and data at rest helps ensure data confidentiality and integrity. Digital signatures are commonly used in cryptography to validate the authenticity of data. Cryptography and encryption have become increasingly important. A good example of cryptography use is the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The AES is a symmetric key algorithm used to protect classified government information.
4. Infrastructure security: Infrastructure security deals with the protection of internal and extranet networks, labs, data centers, servers, desktops, and mobile devices.
5. Incident response: Incident response is the function that monitors for and investigates potentially malicious behavior. In preparation for breaches, IT staff should have an incident response plan for containing the threat and restoring the network. In addition, the plan should create a system to preserve evidence for forensic analysis and potential prosecution. This data can help prevent further breaches and help staff discover the attacker.
6. Vulnerability management: Vulnerability management is the process of scanning an environment for weak points (such as unpatched software) and prioritizing remediation based on risk. In many networks, businesses are constantly adding applications, users, infrastructure, and so on. For this reason, it is important to constantly scan the network for potential vulnerabilities. Finding a vulnerability in advance can save your businesses the catastrophic costs of a breach.