ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC)Security PrinciplesMedium
A manufacturing company relies heavily on its industrial control systems (ICS) for production. Any downtime of these systems would result in significant financial losses and potential safety hazards. The company decides to invest in redundant systems, offline backups, and robust physical security for its ICS infrastructure. This approach demonstrates a primary focus on which security principle?
- AIntegrity
- BNon-repudiation
- CAvailability
- DConfidentiality
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Availability
Investing in redundant systems, backups, and robust physical security for systems sensitive to downtime directly aims to ensure the continuous operation and accessibility of those systems, which is the definition of availability.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Integrity protects against unauthorized modification, which is important but secondary to preventing downtime.
- B. Non-repudiation ensures actions cannot be denied, which is unrelated to system uptime.
- D. Confidentiality protects against unauthorized disclosure, which is not the primary concern here.
Availability
The principle that systems and data are accessible and operational to authorized users when needed.
- Crucial for business continuity and critical operations.
- Achieved through redundancy, backups, disaster recovery, and fault tolerance.
- Often prioritized for operational technology (OT) systems like ICS.
Memory trick: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability: Your CIA agent protects your secrets, keeps your files true, and is always there when you call.