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Requirements: Integrity

Data integrity ensures that information remains accurate and unaltered as it moves through systems and networks. It is a foundational pillar of the CIA triad and a critical consideration in the design of any secure technology.

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About this video

Integrity is one of the three foundational principles of the CIA triad, which forms the basis of modern security design. In a technical context, integrity means that data and systems remain accurate, consistent, and free from unauthorized modification throughout their lifecycle. Any change to data made by an unauthorized party, whether in transit or at rest, constitutes an integrity attack and can have serious consequences for individuals and organizations alike. A straightforward example illustrates the risk: if a message is intercepted between sender and recipient and its contents are altered, the recipient acts on false information without knowing it has been tampered with. While the consequences in a simple scheduling scenario may seem minor, the same type of attack applied to financial records, medical data, or system configurations can cause significant harm. Recognizing and defending against integrity attacks is therefore a core responsibility in the planning and deployment of any secure technology environment.

What you'll learn

Explain the concept of data integrity within the CIA triad and identify how integrity attacks compromise the accuracy of transmitted data

What's covered

Integrity in Security

CIA Triad Role
- Core security principle
- Guides system design
Definition of Integrity
- Data is correct
- Information not corrupted
Integrity Attack Example
- Message intercepted
- Content altered by adversary
- Recipient gets wrong info

Key terms

CIA Triad: The three core principles of information security: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.
Integrity: The assurance that data has not been tampered with and remains accurate and complete.
Data Integrity: The assurance that data has not been altered or corrupted during storage or transmission.
Man-in-the-Middle Attack: An attack where an adversary secretly intercepts and potentially alters communications between two parties.

Topics

Data Integrity Cia Triad Cybersecurity Fundamentals Integrity Attacks Information Security

Transcript

Integrity

Another requirement that most likely we'll want to implement with whatever technology we roll out is integrity.

Integrity is part of our CIA triad, so it's a core part of security and how we implement and design our technologies. The word itself doesn't always apply to technology - it just means the quality of being honest. But when it comes to technology, integrity just means that whatever data we're receiving or processing, or whatever systems we have, maintain a certain level of integrity: that the information is correct and it's not being corrupted.

An Example

Let's say Susan sends David a message, and the message says, let's meet at 12:00 and go over those numbers. Then it gets sent off to David, but the adversary intercepts this in between and says, well, let's say it's 2:00 instead. Now David has the wrong time, Susan gets mad because David didn't show up on time, and this is problematic.

There are other cases that are far worse than this example right here, but this is just one example of how something could be altered. What happened is the message was altered, and we call that an attack against the integrity of that message.

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