What are the 4 principles of information security?

The Importance of Information Security

Information security is increasingly relevant in the technology market and has become essential for all companies looking to ensure the protection of their data and their clients. With this in mind, it’s important to keep in mind the four principles of information security during your cybersecurity journey.

With the LGPD (General Data Protection Law) in effect since 2020 and imposing fines on companies since 2021, non-compliance can be very costly, with fines ranging from 2% of annual revenue up to R$ 50 million. Without a doubt, it is crucial for your company to comply with the pillars of information security to protect your clients' valuable data and avoid unnecessary expenses.

Want to know what these principles are and how you can use them to keep your company safe? Keep reading this article!

What Are the Principles of Information Security?

It is imperative for companies to protect their clients' data with the utmost diligence. In the digital age, data is so crucial that thousands of attacks occur daily. Brazil, for example, is one of the top targets for cyberattacks, with 23 billion attempts in the first half of 2023, according to a study by Fortinet.

Therefore, companies must always focus on managing risks and protecting information from unauthorized access, leaks, alterations, invasions, and losses. Threats to information security can occur in various ways, from ransomware attacks to human errors.

Thus, information security is based on four pillars to protect information and data: confidentiality, integrity, availability, and authenticity.

Confidentiality: Ensures that information is only accessible to authorized individuals, meaning it is not made available to unauthorized persons, entities, or processes.

Integrity: Ensures the accuracy of information, indicating that data cannot be altered without authorization.

Availability: Ensures that data and systems are accessible to authorized individuals when necessary.

Authenticity: Ensures the true origin of information, meaning the data actually comes from a specific source.

Let's discuss each of these information security pillars in more detail.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is the first principle of information security for a simple reason: it deals with the privacy of data, which is fundamental for any company that wants to ensure security.

This concept relates to actions taken to ensure that information is not stolen from systems through cyberattacks, espionage, unauthorized access, or other malicious practices.

Preventive actions can be taken to ensure confidentiality, such as using Bug Bounty programs to make systems more secure and thus ensure confidentiality.

Why is Confidentiality Important?

If information security management does not consider the protection of confidential data, the company may face serious issues, including breaches of the General Data Protection Law and damage to its reputation. Confidential information includes not only company data but also data from clients, partners, employees, and suppliers.

A breach of this data can cause financial harm and even lead to legal actions against the organization. With the LGPD in effect, this has become an even greater risk due to recurring inspections.

Thus, ensuring confidentiality is one of the information security principles that should guide protective actions and be strictly followed by companies.

Integrity

This principle ensures that data maintains its original characteristics, meaning it is not improperly altered.

Integrity is lost when information is modified or violated inappropriately. For example, if an employee alters information to simulate a higher price than the actual one, it is corrupting the principle of integrity.

Ways to maintain information integrity include:

• Applying version control tools. This allows you to revert documents to their original state before changes.
• Constantly checking information stored in different systems to ensure it has not been altered.
• Performing frequent backups.

Why is Integrity Important?

For systems to operate correctly, data integrity must be maintained. Instructions, guidelines, and messages exchanged between departments, for example, need to reach recipients in the same way they were sent to avoid compromising communication, whether internal or external.

Additionally, a company that maintains its data integrity is a company that clients can trust.

Availability

For an information system to be useful, its data must be available when needed. Therefore, availability is another of the four principles of information security, ensuring access to end users at all times.

To achieve this, you need to ensure stability and constant access to system information through quick maintenance processes, elimination of software failures, continuous updates, and crisis management plans.

Systems are vulnerable to natural disasters, cyberattacks, power outages, and other threats to availability. Keeping systems secure also means ensuring the maximum possible security so that data is always available.

Why is Availability Important?

Imagine this situation: you made a purchase on an e-commerce site and later need to check the purchase again, either to remember when it was made or how much was paid for the product.

If this information is not available, the company loses credibility, and you will certainly ask, “What happened to my data?”

Thus, availability is one of the most straightforward information security principles but is crucial, especially for the client.

Authenticity

The principle of authenticity ensures that information comes from a trusted source. In other words, it confirms that the data is legitimate, with no manipulation or external interventions, such as third parties posing as employees.

Authenticity is the pillar that validates a user's authorization to access, transmit, and receive information, such as logins, passwords, or even biometric authentications. An authentic system confirms users' identities before granting access.

A simple way to verify user authenticity is through captcha or two-factor authentication.

Why is Authenticity Important?

If a system does not confirm a user's authenticity, it becomes vulnerable to various types of attacks and falsifications, such as malicious individuals posing as others to steal, leak, or gain access to data without the proper authorization.

Both companies and clients benefit from secure systems based on authenticity, one of the principles of information security.

How to Ensure Information Security?

Applying the four principles of information security is crucial for keeping your business safe and your clients' data protected from cyberattacks. After all, cyberattacks are increasing every day. In this scenario, it is essential for businesses to be prepared to defend themselves.

Here are some tips to maintain information security in your company:

1. Create an Information Security Policy
   • Understanding the importance of information security in the company should always start from the top level. Therefore, the CEO, directors, and managers should create a corporate policy that considers the principles of information security.
   • This includes practices such as data assessment, defining processes, permissions, and prohibitions for employees, strengthening the security culture, and establishing password policies, backup strategies, and access controls.
2. Conduct Regular Training
   • It is essential that every employee understands the risks and consequences of neglecting data protection. Regular training helps build a culture of information security where everyone understands their responsibilities within the company.
3. Secure Wi-Fi Networks
   • Cyberattacks can occur offline, but they have been increasing online. Therefore, the use of unprotected networks should be avoided, and the company's wireless network should be protected with encryption and security protocols.
4. Protect Data in the Cloud
   • Protecting data in the cloud involves using authentication and ensuring the chosen provider takes information security seriously.
5. Perform Regular Tests
   • Even if your company follows all information security principles, it’s crucial to view security as an ongoing process. New threats emerge daily, waiting for any gap to exploit.
   • Investing in cybersecurity through real-time protection programs like Bug Bounty is a way to stay ahead. Bug Bounty programs continuously test your systems for vulnerabilities, discovering them before malicious actors can exploit them.

Learn About Bug Bounty Programs from BugHunt

Bug Bounty functions as a rewards program where experts constantly test systems to find vulnerabilities that could jeopardize the company's security and its users.

The community of experts acts actively and continuously, serving as an extension of your company's team and providing in-depth security knowledge. With Bug Bounty, you will always know first when a bug threatens your business.

This way, you can fix these flaws before malicious actors can use them for harmful purposes.

Now that you know the four principles of information security and the importance of keeping your company safe, how about learning more about BugHunt’s services?

Click here and contact us to find out how Bug Bounty can protect your business.