Information security is a set of measures, sets and practices to protect information from external and internal threats.
External threats are attempts to hack into the system, DDoS attacks, viruses and malware, natural and man-made disasters. Internal threats are errors and unqualified actions of service personnel, destruction or distortion of data by company employees, information theft, deliberate sabotage.
Effective information security is achieved through multi-stage risk management and involves threat assessment, planning of countermeasures, implementation of complex protection systems and regular inspections.
Information security is based on 3 principles:
- Secrecy: differentiating levels of access to information in accordance with accepted rules.
- Integrity: keeping the data structure unchanged, unless users have the right to modify the information.
- Availability: use of protocols and technologies that allow users to access data in accordance with security policies, and ensure guaranteed availability of data even in the event of accidents and natural disasters.
Traditionally, certain means and methods of information protection are distinguished:
- Legal – the enterprise develops documents regulating the policy and organisation of information security.
- Organisational – creation of conditions for effective data protection at workplaces, infrastructure monitoring, redundancy of communication channels, storage of backup copies and other methods.
- Software – implementation of software solutions that help to organise secure data storage, provide access to information to a certain circle of employees, protect the system from hacking and other external threats.
- Technical – use of special equipment and technologies designed to protect information, for example, setting up authentication procedures, encryption, use of special network equipment that filters traffic.
Implementing an information security policy is most often implemented as a specific ICM solution.