Cyber security and information security are commonly used interchangeably, but they differ. Not every piece of data can be information. Data, when given with context and when it is given a meaning, becomes information. In short, information is data with meaning.
Cybersecurity
This refers to the process of protecting electronic systems, networks, computers, servers, mobile devices, and data from harmful attacks. Cybersecurity also involves identifying the critical data, its source, risk exposure, and protection.
This includes
- Network security
- Cloud Security
- Application security
- Operational security
The goals of network security and application security are to protect computer networks, software, and hardware from attacks and vulnerabilities. Disaster recovery refers to an organization’s response to a data loss and attempts to restore its operational capabilities to keep the organization operating.
Some of the common threats are
- “malware” refers to software intended to harm or takedown systems. Malware commonly comes in the form of worms, trojan horses, and viruses.
- Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks are a kind of eavesdropping attack where the attacker intercepts communications between two parties and listens in on or modifies the contents.
- Attackers that attempt to write more data to a memory buffer than it can retain cause the execution of malicious code through buffer overflow attacks.
- Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks are a type of injection attack in which malicious code is injected into a website or web application. Attackers can steal cookies, login credentials, and other sensitive information.
Research claims that cyber dangers have risen substantially in recent years and predict a huge data breach. According to another report, the world will spend close to $133.7 billion by the year 2022 on cybersecurity solutions and services.
Information Security
Information security, also called InfoSec, describes businesses’ policies and practices to safeguard their data. This has settings for policies that restrict access to company or individual data by unauthorized parties. Information security is a rapidly developing and dynamic field that covers everything from testing and auditing to network and security design. Information security shields sensitive data from unauthorized actions, including inspection, modification, recording, disruption, or destruction. Important data, such as client account information, financial information, or intellectual property, should be protected and kept private.
This includes
- Procedural controls
- Compliance controls
- Technical controls
- Access controls
Preventing illegal access to, use of, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of data and information systems to provide:
- Integrity assures information nonrepudiation and authenticity and protects against improper information alteration or deletion.
Confidentiality -Maintaining permitted restrictions on access and disclosure and measures to preserve proprietary information and individual privacy.
- Availability refers to maintaining approved limitations on access and disclosure, including safeguards for protecting personal privacy and proprietary information.
Summary of Common Things
Most data is digital on a network, computer, server, or in the cloud. This information can be obtained by criminals who use it for their own gain. The primary problem for both types of security is the data’s worth. The data’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability are the main concerns in information security. Protecting against unauthorized electronic access to data is the main goal of cybersecurity. In both situations, it’s critical to recognize the data that, if accessed without authorization, would cause the company the greatest harm. Only then can a security architecture with the appropriate controls be developed to guard against unauthorized access.
Summary of Differences
There are more differences in the debate between cyber security and information security. Information security refers to safeguarding data online and off, whereas cyber security focuses on securing data in cyberspace. In other words, the endpoint device or the Internet may only be a small portion of the whole picture. Both entail securing the Internet from attacks, which may contain ransomware, spyware, malware, and other dangerous software that can wreak havoc in various ways. However, many who work in cyber security have a more constrained focus.
References:
- https://securityscorecard.com/blog/information-security-versus-cybersecurity
- https://www.secureworks.com/blog/cybersecurity-vs-network-security-vs-information-security
- https://analyticsindiamag.com/difference-between-cybersecurity-information-security/
- https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-cyber-security-and-information-security/
- https://www.bitsight.com/blog/cybersecurity-vs-information-security
- https://www.simplilearn.com/information-security-vs-cyber-security-article#:~:text=While%20cyber%20security%20deals%20with,data%20in%20cyberspace%20and%20beyond
Prathvik is ML/AI Research content intern at MarktechPost, he is a 3rd year undergraduate at IIT Kharagpur. He has a keen interest in Machine learning and data science.He is enthusiastic in learning about the applications of Machine learning in different fields of study.
