Glossary / concepts acsc-glossary

CIA triad

Confidentiality, integrity, availability. Lose one and the system is already failing, even if the dashboard is green.

CIA triadThe CIA triad: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Three properties of information security, not a slogan. Lose one and the system is already failing even if the dashboard is green.ANDANDCConfidentialityauthorised eyes onlyIIntegritywritten by the right handAAvailabilitythere when work needs itCIA TRIAD / THREE PROPERTIESLose one pillar and the system is already failing.Check every control against all three — or it is decoration.

Three properties, not a slogan. Confidentiality: only authorised people and services see the data. Integrity: it was written, changed, or deleted by someone allowed to. Availability: it is there when authorised work needs it.

Ransomware punches all three. A quiet edit of a payroll file is integrity. A flood that takes the site down is availability. A dumped backup is confidentiality.

Use the triad as a check on every control. If a spend does not serve one of the three, it is decoration.

Fact source: ASD's ACSC glossary.