If this sensitive data falls into the hands of a hacker, the consequences can be devastating. Information security analysts use their knowledge of computer systems and networks to defend organizations from cyber threats. By the time the hack ended, the attackers obtained 143 million individuals’ personal information, about 209,000 credit card numbers, and documents with further personally identifiable information for about 182,000 people. Authentication methods can be relatively common and easy to utilize, such as passwords, scannable cards, or multifactor authentication. These costs include incremental costs to transform the company’s technology infrastructure and improve its application, network, and data security. The Parkerian Hexad therefore addresses the human element with three more principles:. While Equifax had the tools to decrypt, analyze, and re-encrypt internal network traffic, the company did not renew its public-key certificate. Discover our online degree programs, certificates and professional development offerings via our virtual learning platform. Knowing the answers to these questions and following the 5 principles of information assurance can help you, create a successful system of risk management, The 5 Principles of Information Assurance, To ensure the continued availability of sensitive information only to a select few, security professionals will generally put measures such as firewalls and, Antivirus software, penetration tests, and other security measures are often employed to ensure that your data’s integrity is not compromised by hackers. Additionally, they are responsible for setting up protective measures within information systems. According to a statement by FedEx officials, an internal investigation concluded that none of the information had been misappropriated. Information assurance is a crucial part of making sure your business protects its finances, runs its operations smoothly, and preserves the trust of your customers and partners. It should be carefully safeguarded, but also remain accessible to those who need it with reasonable ease and speed. Apache Struts, the software provider for Equifax, discovered the CVE-2017-5638 vulnerability within the same month of the attack. This is driven by a range of factors, including a need to improve the efficiency of business processes, the demands of compliance regulations and the desire to deliver new services. There are commonly five terms associated with the definition of information assurance: Integrity. Users who sent Bitcoins to the hacker did so because the. Integrity, as a principle of information assurance, means that your sensitive data is not tampered with in any way. To ensure the continued availability of sensitive information only to a select few, security professionals will generally put measures such as firewalls and load balancers into place. Availability also takes into consideration if and how sensitive information will be accessed, even if the information systems fail partially or fully. Several security vulnerabilities allowed the cybercriminals to enter the company’s seemingly secure data systems and exfiltrate terabytes of data. Keeping sensitive data private using safeguards like data encryption is an extremely important function of IA professionals. The attack highlighted major failures in following the principles of information assurance. To prevent viruses from deleting or damaging files, IA professionals use antivirus software and other tools to stop them before they enter the computer system. The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) is a center of network and information expertise. Not only that, but the more secure a system is, the more challenging it can become for that system to actually remain functional. This gives you a clear map of, how sensitive information flows through your business, For each component of your information system, you should evaluate its benefits to your business alongside its security risks. Staffing Websites by Haley Marketing. Please feel free to share our infographic on social media, or copy and paste the code below to embed it on your website: These 5 principles of information assurance will help guide you as you evaluate each component or asset that handles sensitive information in your organization. Integrity. Only users who need to access sensitive information should ever be able to view, store, alter (in approved ways), or transmit this data. Ideally, your company would use proactive cybersecurity measures to keep intruders from ever accessing your data in the first place. New Orleans, LA 70112-1608 If a user engages in unauthorized activity during the attack, it would be hard for the organization to determine who was responsible for that activity, limiting their ability to prevent future attacks. The hackers initially entered a consumer complaint portal. Equifax violated all 5 principles of information assurance during this attack: Since the attack, Equifax has restaffed its C-level executives and spent $1.4 billion on cleaning costs. Information accessibility. To ensure that those measures will comply with the five pillars of The basic meaning of information assurance is well captured by the definition from National Information Systems Security Glossary, which is as follows: Information Assurance (IA): Information operations that protect and defend information and information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and April 20, 2018 by Ivan Dimov. REPORT DATE For example, where are your data centers located? Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. And what would the consequences be for your business operations, staff, and customers if it were compromised? The flip side of Information Assurance is Information Warfare (IW). Information security is a set of practices intended to keep data secure from unauthorized access or alterations. Having the right IA rules and practices in place helps keep organizations’ information and systems secure. 11/30/2020; 2 minutes to read; r; In this article About the ENISA Information Assurance Framework. REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 1. The 5 Principles of Information Assurance 1. Surprisingly, these images were being stored on an unsecured third-party server that has since been closed. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, IA involves: Actions taken that protect and defend information and information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality and non-repudiation. Guiding Principles in Information Security. But what exactly does that encompass? Whether you’re handling sensitive government information or customer payment information, it’s important to ensure that this data does not become accidentally altered or fall into the wrong hands. When it comes to combatting attacks like these, it is up to IA professionals to investigate any exploitable flaws that might exist in their authentication systems and take action to eliminate them. “Information Assurance Awareness Program” and updates the focus of this instruction. Upholding an information system’s integrity involves keeping its network intact and uncompromised; thus, the primary goal of this pillar is to set up safeguards that deter threats. This was accomplished both by obtaining individual employee credentials and by bypassing various network controls. E x a m p l e • Information Asset B • Value score (or impact) = 100 • Has 3 vulnerabilities • Vulnerability 1 with likelihood of 0.5 and current controls addressing 50% of its risk • Our assumptions and data are 80% accurate • Asset B Vulnerability 2 = (100 x 0.5) – 50% (100 x 0.5) + 20% (100 x 0.5) = 50 – 25 + 10 = 35 Whatever the issue, information assurance professionals can rely on the Five Pillars to provide a framework for protecting data and users. topic 1 information assurance principles Information Assurance “Measures that protect and defend information and information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation. It deletes the ... security principles during the use of Air Force information systems . Updates and Information on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tools . Learn about the 5 principles of information assurance and incorporate them into your business model today. A principle which is a core requirement of information security for the safe utilization, flow, and storage of information is the CIA triad. Equifax also reached a record-breaking settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in July 2019 to conclude a class-action lawsuit, paying at least $1.38 billion to resolve consumer claims. In the context of Information Assurance the most relevant is article 8 b) “The right to respect for one’s private and family life, correspondence and home” This is interpreted as an obligation on the state (and therefore public bodies) to positively respect the When data encryption is utilized, users without access to the information will just see nonsensical text. The same principle is true for the sensitive data your organization processes and stores. Additionally, they are responsible for setting up protective measures within information systems. The hackers were able to go undetected because Equifax neglected the, of its digital systems. For instance, if a database failover occurs, ideally employees would still be able to access the information most critical to their business operations. Industry insights, hiring best practices, career advice. of this sensitive information had been meddled with, and they believed the money would be directed to someone else. Of particular interest is the WikiLeaks case involving Julian Assange and the former Military Intelligence soldier Bradley Manning. Only users with an encryption key, or a password of some kind, will be able to view the information as written. What are the odds of this information component being breached? However, information assurance actually encompasses both digital and physical information channels. ENISA Information Assurance Framework. Availability. Authentication means that there need to be controls in place to ensure that users are who they claim to be. On average, organizations that are hacked lose $1.1 million, to damages and repairs. All businesses deal with sensitive information that could be disastrous if tampered with or destroyed, whether intentionally or accidentally. , allowing the attackers to go unnoticed for 76 days. Nonrepudiation means that when information is transferred, there needs to be proof that the action was successfully completed on both the sender’s end and the receiver’s end. Information assurance and information security are often used interchangeably (incorrectly) InfoSec is focused on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information (electronic and non-electronic) IA has broader connotations and explicitly includes reliability, access control, and nonrepudiation as well as a strong How many remote endpoint devices are accessing your network? All of these jobs borrow from the Five Pillars of Information Assurance, which go beyond cyber security and encompass anything that can compromise data, ranging from malicious attacks to power surges. If this sensitive data falls into the hands of a hacker, the consequences can be devastating. Information Security (InfoSec) and Information Assurance (IA) hav e be- come increasingly important in an era in which information is recognised as a key asset by man y organisations. These protections apply to data in transit, both physical and electronic forms, as well as data at rest . How Principles of Information Assurance Help in Practice, Every modern organization needs to understand how to plan and execute a successful information assurance system. They monitor the networks to keep track of any possible security breaches, and they investigate any that they find. Securing your information requires financial resources, personnel, and computing power. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your organization improve the proper authentication, integrity, confidentiality, availability, and nonrepudiation of its sensitive information. While RSA has not disclosed the full extent of the data that was stolen, the company did state that the breach has damaged their reputation and possibly decreased the effectiveness of some of their security products. to Information Assurance: A Methodological Approach A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Science (Systems Engineering) by Gregory A. Lamm May 2001. The hacker’s entry method was blocked and the vulnerable data secured, but the attack caused RSA lasting damage. Possession/Control: It's possible to possess or control information without breaching confidentiality. until September, leading to further customer distrust. On average, organizations that are hacked lose $1.1 million to damages and repairs. These security measures should be designed to detect and react to threats. Improving information management practices is a key focus for many organisations, across both the public and private sectors. usually assumed for private social media accounts was violated. It is important to emphasize that assurance and confidence are not identical and cannot be used in place of one another. Confidentiality. IA is a field in and of itself. Risk concerns shall be aligned across all stakeholders and all interconnected technology elements. When individuals send information through a network, it is important that the information system be able to provide proof of delivery to confirm that the data was properly transmitted. A couple of real-life examples come to mind as they relate to this and other US laws with similar verbiage and legal ramifications. Without easy data access, the system’s users are limited in their ability to access important information or perform critical tasks. NOTE: IA training and education is a requirement of assigned specialized duties and is separate from the IA Awareness Program. Confidentiality must be considered in terms of the data, not just in terms of access or permissions. This gives you a clear map of how sensitive information flows through your business. … Users must provide evidence of their identity before accessing any confidential information. All 5 principles of information assurance were violated during this attack: Twitter has since recovered from the attack and is working to strengthen its information assurance practices. Connect with Norwich’s exceptional faculty and students from across the country and around the world. This program must protect CNCS information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, and destruction. If Equifax had put the principles of information assurance into practice, this breach would not have occurred and the company would have avoided a major loss in business rating, consumer trust, time, and revenue. In March 2017, millions of people’s personal identification data was stolen during a hack against Equifax, a multinational consumer credit reporting agency. Norwich University has been designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security. Information assurance includes protection of the integrity, availability, authenticity, non-repudiation and confidentiality of user data. While you want to keep your data away from potential hackers, you still need to be able to access that information. Confidentiality involves protecting private information from disclosure to any unauthorized users, systems, or other entities. The first step to implementing a robust information assurance system is to review your information network. As network security issues became more prevalent, information assurance (IA) has grown to become an essential professional discipline that is critical to the safety of public and private information. For example, where are your data centers located? Equifax failed to protect users’ information in several countries, making it too, Equifax’s user data being too widely and plainly available also demonstrated a breach in. In early 2018, international shipping giant FedEx discovered that hackers had managed to steal scanned images of approximately 119,000 of its customers’ personal documents, including passports and driver's licenses. Proactive monitoring and mitigation can help address threats, Even if you do not store your sensitive information in file cabinets, the physical components of your business’ information processing need to be considered when establishing security measures. Nonrepudiation is commonly tracked through file logs and verified cross-network data exchange systems. Availability refers to how users are given access to sensitive information within your enterprise’s... 2. For instance, if a cybercriminal renders an automated car’s operation system inoperable, the car could cause an accident. In short, information assurance is the protection of information and how it is processed, used, transferred, and stored. Knowing the answers to these questions and following the 5 principles of information assurance can help you create a successful system of risk management and prioritization. The sensitive information in this case was too. Each information asset and channel should then be evaluated in terms of its value to your organization. To achieve effective information assurance, businesses must adopt a range of security controls. In completing the course, students will be able to: 1) Explain the concepts of information systems security as applied to an IT infrastructure, 2) Describe how malicious attacks, threats, and vulnerabilities impact an IT infrastructure, 3) Explain the role of access controls in implementing a security policy, 4) Explain the role of operations and administration in effective implementation of security policy, 5) … was compromised because the hacker was able to appear as if they were Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and other public figures. Information assurance (IA) concerns the protection and risk management of information and information systems. Through its online programs, Norwich delivers relevant and applicable curricula that allow its students to make a positive impact on their workplaces and communities. Availability means that users can access the data stored in their networks or use services that are featured within those networks. Antivirus software, penetration tests, and other security measures are often employed to ensure that your data’s integrity is not compromised by hackers. Although Twitter has not yet released the exact details regarding how the attack occurred, we do know that the starting point was a “phone spear phishing attack.” That phrasing could mean a number of different things. The data breach can also harm your public reputation, and you may even become, What to Protect with Information Assurance. Businesses have the same risk. Information Assurance Program The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is responsible for implementing and administering an information security program. 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