Authentication is the process of verifying who someone or something is. An example of authentication is logging in into a website with your username and password.
Biometrics is unique physical characteristics that can be used to verify a person’s identity. Examples of biometric are a fingerprint, an eye scan or a palm scan
Vishing is the exploitation of electronic voice communication to obtain sensitive information or to impersonate a known source.
Another important security control is Authorization is the concept of granting access to a specific resources within a system. It is used to verify that a user has permission to access a resource.
Security frameworks are guidelines used for building plans to help mitigate risk and threats to data and privacy.
Security controls are safeguards designed to reduce specific security risks. Security controls are the measures organizations use to lower risk and threats to data and privacy. For example, a control that can be used alongside frameworks to ensure a hospital remains compliant with HIPAA is requiring that patients use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to access their medical records.
Cybersecurity frameworks and controls are used together to establish an organization’s security posture. They also support an organization’s ability to meet security goals and comply with laws and regulations.
People are the biggest threat to a company’s security. This is why educating employees about security challenges is essential for minimizing the possibility of a breach.
CIA Triad
The CIA Triad is a model that helps inform how organizations consider risk when setting up security policies. The CIA stands for Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.
Confidentiality means that only authorized users can access specific assets or data.
Integrity means that the data is correct, authentic and reliable. One way to verify data integrity is through cryptography, which is used to transform data so unauthorized parties cannot read or tamper with it (NIST, 2022)
Availability means that the data is accessible to those who are authorized to access it. Availability is the idea that data is accessible to those who are authorized to use it. When a system adheres to both availability and confidentiality principles, data can be used when needed. In the workplace, this could mean that the organization allows remote employees to access its internal network to perform their jobs.
Maintaining an acceptable level of risk and ensuring systems and policies are designed with these elements in mind helps establish a successful security posture, which refers to an organization’s ability to manage its defense of critical assets and data and react to change.
The principle of least privilege limits users’ access to only the information they need to complete work-related tasks. Limiting access is one way of maintaining the confidentiality and security of private data.