What does the CIA triad represent in cybersecurity?

The CIA triad is a foundational concept in cybersecurity that stands for Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.

Confidentiality ensures that sensitive information is accessed only by authorized individuals or systems, thereby protecting private data from unauthorized exposure. This principle is crucial for maintaining the privacy and trust of users whose data is being processed or stored.

Integrity refers to the accuracy and consistency of data over its lifecycle. It involves ensuring that data is not altered or tampered with, whether intentionally or accidentally. Maintaining data integrity is essential for reliability in decision-making processes based on that data.

Availability ensures that systems and data are accessible when needed by authorized users. This principle emphasizes the importance of maintaining up-to-date and functioning systems that prevent downtime or loss of access that could disrupt business operations or critical services.

Together, these three principles form the core goals of cybersecurity efforts, guiding strategies and measures to protect information systems and data. The other options introduce terms that are not foundational to the security framework and focus on aspects that do not encapsulate the primary concerns in the cybersecurity realm.