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Cybersecurity and information security may sound like two different terms for the same idea. But while they’re related, they’re actually different concepts. What is cybersecurity? What is information security? And what’s the actual difference between them?
Let’s start with a definition of cybersecurity. You’ll get a different definition for this depending on which organization you’re consulting. For example, according to ISO, cybersecurity is the “preservation of confidentiality, integrity and availability of information in cyberspace.” And according to CISA, “Cybersecurity is the art of protecting networks, devices and data from unauthorized access or criminal use and the practice of ensuring confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.”
But the simple version is this: cybersecurity is about protecting an organization from hacking, attacks, breaches and other forms of unauthorized access from the outside world. With the right framework, an organization can proactively detect these threats, prevent them from happening and respond to them if they’re already in progress.
Cybersecurity is also concerned with data that natively has a digital form. For example, digital files and data stored on your computer are natively digital. Any discussion of cybersecurity is, by definition, discussing digital information, systems, networks and processes.
So what is information security?
According to NIST, information security (or InfoSec) is “The protection of information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction in order to provide confidentiality, integrity and availability.”
In other words, information security is all about protecting the integrity, accessibility and confidentiality of data no matter what form it takes. Instead of designing security processes around your digital PDFs, you’ll also need to think about the filing cabinets full of files in your office.
Ultimately, information security aims to protect your information and information systems by preserving it in three ways:
1. Integrity. First, your information needs to be protected in terms of its integrity. In other words, it needs to be prevented from being modified or destroyed. The authentic information must be preserved in its original form at all costs.
2. Availability and accessibility. Information also needs to remain available and accessible to the people who need it. Leaders and team members within your organization should be able to access information whenever they need it.
3. Confidentiality and privacy. Finally, information needs to remain confidential. In other words, it shouldn’t be accessible by unauthorized parties. It also needs to remain compliant with privacy policies, and should keep proprietary information protected.
Are you still confused? It’s understandable, considering the significant overlap between these two concepts. But cybersecurity and information security are differentiated in a few important ways:
Of course, cybersecurity and information security also have a lot in common, including:
Having a cybersecurity strategy isn’t enough to protect your organization; it will leave your non-digital information vulnerable to attack. Similarly, an information security plan alone won’t suffice to protect your organization from hackers and other external, digital threats.
If you want your organization to remain secure, protected and compliant, you need both cybersecurity and information security strategies. These complementary forces must work together for the hygiene and safety of your organization.
Unfortunately, just because you take cybersecurity and information security seriously, doesn’t mean your third parties do. Since your vendors have access to your assets, it behooves you to properly vet new third-party vendors as well as monitor them on an ongoing basis. Doing this will help ensure the security hygiene of your vendors is up to snuff. This can be accomplished by combining security questionnaires with external attack surface assessments and business context.
Third-party security is something you can’t afford to ignore. Panorays automates, accelerates and scales the third-party security evaluation and management process so you can quickly and easily manage, mitigate and remediate risk. Our platform reduces breaches, ensures vendor compliance and improves your security across the board. Request a demo today to see how it works and take your next step toward greater third-party security.