For over 3 millennia, humans have sought ways to protect and secure information so that it is only available to a limited set of select individuals. Whether they were ancient military leaders seeking to keep their battle plans out of enemy hands or modern-day financial investors trading stocks online, there are an unlimited number of scenarios in which access to information needs to be restricted.
One way to ensure that information is not accessible to others is to completely destroy the information. Imagine writing a private message down on a sheet of paper and then shredding the page into a million tiny pieces. The information contained within the original message will be all but lost, ensuring that no bystander might piece it all back together again. Unfortunately, it also means that you will also not be able to reconstruct your data, rendering this an undesirable solution to the problem.
One way to ensure that information is not accessible to others is to completely destroy the information. Imagine writing a private message down on a sheet of paper and then shredding the page into a million tiny pieces. The information contained within the original message will be all but lost, ensuring that no bystander might piece it all back together again. Unfortunately, it also means that you will also not be able to reconstruct your data, rendering this an undesirable solution to the problem.
One of the earliest and simplest attempts at encryption is the Caesar cipher, employed by Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC. This schema is known as a substitution cipher because it substitutes each letter of the original, unencrypted message (called the plaintext) with a corresponding letter in the final, encrypted message (called the ciphertext).
Example
Plaintext: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Ciphertext: xyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw
Example
Plaintext: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Ciphertext: xyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw
Social Engineering
Information security is not just focused on technical attacks on computer systems. Many malicious attackers use social engineering techniques as well. Social engineering refers to the “psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.”
Some examples include:
One of the biggest cybersecurity concerns is electronic voting. Paper ballots are increasingly giving way to electronically submitted, tallied, and stored votes. We have seen ways the CIA Triad is applied to electronic messaging, data storage, and account authentication to protect against malicious attacks. However, given the importance and far-reaching implications of election results, electronic voting must adhere to the CIA Triad perhaps more than any other application.
Information security is not just focused on technical attacks on computer systems. Many malicious attackers use social engineering techniques as well. Social engineering refers to the “psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.”
Some examples include:
- Viruses/Worms
- Botnets
- Keyloggers
- Backdoors
- Trojan Horses
- Time Bombs
- Spyware
One of the biggest cybersecurity concerns is electronic voting. Paper ballots are increasingly giving way to electronically submitted, tallied, and stored votes. We have seen ways the CIA Triad is applied to electronic messaging, data storage, and account authentication to protect against malicious attacks. However, given the importance and far-reaching implications of election results, electronic voting must adhere to the CIA Triad perhaps more than any other application.