Cyber-attacks could easily be labelled as a pandemic in the coming years since it is spoiling global cyberspace at lightning speed. Predictions are that the cost of battling cybercrime will reach an enormous $10.5 trillion per annum by 2025.
In such a situation, resorting to cybersecurity is the only solution; but wait, is it called cyber security or information security? There it is! The question which confuses the majority of the amateurs. Some people often consider these two terminologies to be synonymous with each other, which is wrong in every sense.
Information and cyber security are like two sides of one coin; different perspectives on the same issues. Yet they hold their own differences which create a fine line between the two. But which one should you opt for to enable data safety and overcome potential risks and threats? Head below and find out for yourself.
What is Cyber Security?
Cybersecurity is a vast umbrella that covers people, procedures, tools, and technologies that prevent any harm to a digital platform. This harm is possessed mostly by hacktivists who breach security protocols intentionally. There is a chance of unintentional harm by employees due to carelessness or lack of knowledge.
History of Cyber Security
The first origin of cybersecurity dates back to 1970 with a programme called Creeper. It was developed by computer scientist Bob Thomas, with the aim of transmitting material across ARPANET (the first-ever packet-switching network). The invention of Creeper resulted in further inventions of antiviruses like Reaper by Ray Tomlinson in the same year. Some prominent antiviruses invented in the 80s include Atari ST, McAfee, and VirusScan.
Principles of Cyber Security
Confidentiality
This principle ensures that personal details and critical data are hidden in the systems. It demands the application of procedures and tools to keep unauthorized people away from such information through restricted access.
Integrity
This principle is related to the credibility of the information itself. The figures held should be true, accurate, and updated at all times. It should also be clean from any unauthorized updates and changes.
Availability
This principle simply means that the material should be ready and available for use at all times. Hence, the systems should be clean from bugs and bots that increase latency or overwhelm the system to crash.
Authentication
It is somewhat related to the first principle which emphasizes restricted access. In authentication, the systems, people, and devices are given authorized access which makes them the only ones to have an approach to the private details.
Non-Repudiation
This principle ensures that sufficient evidence is generated for each transaction related to the data. The reason is to secure proof that certain parties were involved in the dealing of data so they cannot deny it later on.
What is Information Security?
Information security is the process of keeping certain information or data related to a specific topic safe at all costs. It is the protection of both intelligence systems and physical sources of information like computers, paper documents, and hardcopy files. InfoSec itself is a huge sector of inquiry divided into smaller fields like digital forensics, mobile computing, and cryptography.
History of Information Security
The history of InfoSec started in Germany in February 1883. A linguist and professor, Auguste Kerchoffs published a confidential document on military science. He protected this document through passwords and pin codes mainly to secure the details within.
Those passwords and pin codes weren’t just a random series of numbers, symbols, and alphabets, but it was a well-researched algo. Since Kerchoffs main motive was safeguarding the document, it is said that he unintentionally invented information safety and laid the early foundations of this type of security.
Principles of Information Security
Confidentiality
This principle of InfoSec states that the personal details of individuals and that necessary for an organization should be kept hidden. Access should only be given to certain individuals who could be held responsible for the duty of data protection.
Integrity
According to this principle, findings should be reliable, accurate, and not modified. It should be updated correctly but the updates should be made by an authorized person, in general approving the quality and credibility of the findings.
Availability
This principle refers to the 24/7 accessibility of the material due to the system and IT infrastructure. The purpose is to eliminate any bottlenecks or bugs that slow down the delivery of data, as the timely availability of data is crucial for organizational success.
Difference Between Cyber Security and Information Security
Information Security |
Cyber Security |
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Purpose |
Protection of information (not raw data) from unapproved access in order to protect its confidentiality, integrity, and availability. |
Protection of the different areas in a digital environment (including networks and software) from data theft, modification, and takeover or from electronic access. |
Domain |
Electronic / Non-electronic Information Environment |
Cyberspace / Electronic Environment |
Scope |
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Key Action Point |
Acts as a pre-requisite for data breach, leak, distortion, and destruction. |
Acts as a prerequisite for defense attacks. |
Types of Securities |
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Controls |
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Relevant Risks |
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Similarities Between Cyber Security and Information Security
Technical Competence
Both require technical competencies in the fields of network security, penetration testing, and cryptography for starters. Without sufficient knowledge and skills in these areas, achieving job titles is nearly impossible.
The CIA Triad
One of the major commonalities between these both is the CIA Triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability). These three principles which sum up the entirety of information security are also found in cyber safety.
Security Framework
Both share the same invulnerability framework for data protection. For example, imposing physical controls is necessary in both information and cybersecurity.
Incident Response
Since intelligence security is a branch of cybersecurity, both overlap in case of an incident response. Therefore, a person working in cybersecurity can fix any problem of information safeguarding and vice versa (though InfoSec officials can only help to the extent of their field).
Compliance Procedures
The compliance rules and procedures for info and cyber security are pretty much the same. Regulation policies like PDPL, GDPR, DSS, and NIST apply to both, while the risk assessment, management, and monitoring needs are also almost identical.
Final Verdict
As we’ve established, information security and cyber security have major similarities despite the differences in their purpose, scope, and methodologies. While cybersecurity covers data and findings from all digital sources under its roof, information security is adamant on the defense of processed data only, and that too from electronic and non-electronic sources.
This means that if you’re focused on the protection of the findings alone, opt for information security as it will focus on specific areas and has higher chances of a satisfactory outcome.
Cyber security, on the other hand, will protect both raw and processed data from various sources on the web, but due to non-specification, it will carry out risk assessments, which always guarantee the best results.