Availability
What is Availability? Availability is the ability to access data, systems, or services when needed, without delay or disruption. It’s one of the three pillars of the CIA Triad in cybersecurity: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. In short, availability ensures that critical information and systems remain operational and accessible to authorized users, whether for everyday […]
Audit Trail
What is an Audit Trail? An audit trail is a chronological record that tracks and logs all user activities, system events, and transactions related to data, systems, or processes. It typically refers to the detailed logs of who accessed what data, when, where, and what they did with it. Audit trails provide visibility into […]
Anonymization
What is Anonymization? Anonymization is the process of removing or transforming personal data so that individuals can no longer be identified, directly or indirectly. Once data is anonymized, it is no longer considered personal information under privacy laws like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA. Anonymization allows organizations to analyze, share, or train AI models on data without exposing […]
Authorization
What is Authorization? Authorization is the process of determining or granting what actions a user, device, or system is allowed to perform after their identity has been verified through authentication. It answers the question: “What can you do?” Authorization ensures that users have the appropriate permissions to access specific data, applications, or resources – and […]
Authentication
What is Authentication? Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user, device, or system before granting access to resources. It answers the critical question: “Are you really who you say you are?” This process ensures that the entity requesting access is legitimate. Common authentication methods include passwords, biometric data, or cryptographic keys. […]
Accountability
What is Accountability? Accountability is the responsibility of individuals and systems to track and log their actions and activities related to the handling and accessing of data. It ensures that every action taken on a system can be traced back to a specific user or process, allowing for auditing and monitoring of security-related events. This […]
Access Control
What is Access Control? Access control is a security method that manages who can view, use, or modify particular resources in a computer system. It ensures only authorized users can access specific data only for authorized actions. This involves verifying user identities (authentication), giving the right permissions (authorization), and keeping track of user activities (accountability). Examples […]
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
What is Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)? The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a symmetric encryption algorithm established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2001 (NIST). It has been since regarded as a default algorithm for protecting sensitive data and classified information. AES encrypts data in a fixed block size of 128 bits […]
