What is the difference between Information Security and Cyber Security?
Although Information Security and Cybersecurity are often used interchangeably, they have subtle differences. Here’s a breakdown:
Information Security (InfoSec):
- Focus: Protecting information throughout its lifecycle, regardless of location or format.
- Scope: Broader, encompassing all forms of information, including physical, digital, and classified.
- Goals: Ensuring the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA triad) of information.
- Examples: Data encryption, access controls, physical security measures, data classification, incident response.
Cybersecurity:
- Focus: Protecting information systems and networks from cyberattacks.
- Scope: Narrower, focusing specifically on digital information and systems.
- Goals: Preventing unauthorised access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of digital information.
- Examples: Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, vulnerability management, malware protection, security awareness training.
Here’s an analogy to understand the difference:
Imagine information as water. Information security is like a dam and irrigation system, ensuring the water (information) is available to authorised users (people) in quantity and quality. Cybersecurity is like a filtration system within the dam, protecting the water from contaminants (cyberattacks).
Key Differences:
- Scope: Information security has a broader scope than cybersecurity.
- Focus: Information security focuses on the information itself, while cybersecurity focuses on the systems that store and process the information.
- Goals: Information security aims to achieve the CIA triad, while cybersecurity aims to prevent cyberattacks.
- Techniques: Information security includes a broader range of methods than cybersecurity, including physical security measures and data classification.
Overlap and Relationship:
- Cybersecurity is a subset of information security.
- Both disciplines share many common goals and techniques.
- Information security provides a framework for cybersecurity.
- Cybersecurity implementations contribute to achieving information security goals.
In conclusion:
- Information security is the umbrella term encompassing all aspects of information protection.
- Cybersecurity focuses specifically on protecting digital information from cyberattacks.
- Both disciplines are essential for protecting valuable information in today’s digital world.