Keeping Those Secrets

Last time we met, I asked you to remember a short acronym. Do you recall? No, well here’s a hint: There’s an intelligence agency with the same acronym? If you said CIA, muy bien! If not, you’re the recipient of Colbert’s Tip of the Hat - Wag of the Finger. And if you don’t know what that means, then unfortunately my friend, you’re probably missing out on one of TV’s wittiest and funniest shows.

Now, let’s proceed. Can you recall the last time that you told someone something in confidence,hoping that they’d honor your request not to go blabbering to the world? How far would you go to prevent them from disclosing your deep dark secret? Soprano fans, please don’t answer.

In the world of computer security, confidentiality is critical. It’s one third of the triad known as C-I-A. We’ll soon discuss the other two. Without it, all kinds of information that should be kept confidential is now unleashed, as if from the mouth of your blabbering friend. For example, some of those secrets can be a company’s trade secrets, marketing plans, credit card information, or your grandma’s secret family recipe.

Whatever that information is, it’s valuable and its disclosure can ruin a company’s productivity and profitability, raise the possibility of legal and liability issues, not to mention your grandma possibly disowning you.

Of course, sometimes we honestly disclose information that we didn’t know was confidential, but this doesn’t change the fact that information that should have remained secret is now exposed. This is why valuable information must be safeguarded while it resides on systems, while in transit and once it reaches its final destination. And yet with all the efforts made to maintain this confidentiality, there are still those who manage to obtain sensitive information. We’ll investigate these efforts later.

So, to wrap up, keep in mind that confidentiality is the means to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of resources and data. Think of it as efforts to ensure that information remains confidential, like keeping your friend’s trap shut and hopefully preventing your grandma from kicking you out of the family.