The CIA Triad is a model designed to protect sensitive information from data breaches. Your IT team should implement this for the best cyber security practices. Here's a quick breakdown.
C - Confidentiality
Confidentiality is all about protecting information from people who don't need it. Your business should prioritize confidentiality because it increases privacy and lessens the risks of hackers using ransomware attacks to compromise files.
You will need to identify who on your team is authorized personnel, and who is not. Then take the proper security measures.
Strong passwords are a great start, but adding multi-factor authentication is better.
The easiest way to set this up is with an app like Authy or Google Authenticator. If you want to use a physical medium, Yubikey is a great alternative.
Try not to use SMS or email text multi-factor authentication if you can. It just defeats the purpose if hackers can access your messages or emails.
And training is key. Equip your team with the tools to recognize phishing and other social engineering attempts.
I - Integrity
Integrity is related to the completeness and accuracy of data, and the business's ability to protect it from corruption.
Who has access to data is important. But it's just as important to make sure the data is correct.
Errors can come from a system crashing, typos, or forgetting to back up files.
If your sensitive business files are stolen or damaged, having a solid backup plan in place is crucial.
When backing up your files, the 3-2-1 rule is a great way to start. There should be three copies of data, two of those on different media, and at least one copy stored off-site.
If you're backing up financial documents for example, put a copy in the cloud, a copy on an external drive, and another copy on a NAS.
A - Availability
With availability, everything - from systems, apps, files, and data must be available to the people who need it.
This means keeping your hardware and software up to date. You want your team to have the strongest internet connection possible.
Sometimes, worse-case scenarios happen like power outages and natural disasters. You might consider storing backups in a fireproof or waterproof safe.
Your IT team should have strong anti-virus and firewalls in place to slow down large-scale attacks.
Wrapping Up
Confidentiality is about protecting your important data.
Integrity is about making sure your data is unchanged and accurate.
Availability ensures that your team can get to your data no matter what happens.