# What is the CIA Triad?

> The CIA triad is a model for three fundamental information-security objectives: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

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## Content

It helps teams describe what could be harmed, select appropriate safeguards, and assess the effect of a failure. The three objectives apply to information and the systems that store, process, or transmit it.

The required balance is contextual. Emergency services may place exceptional weight on availability; financial records may demand particularly strong integrity; sensitive personal or commercial information may require strict confidentiality. A sound design considers all three without assuming they are equally important for every asset.

### Key points

- **Confidentiality:** Preserve authorized restrictions on access and disclosure. Controls may include access control, encryption, and careful data handling.
- **Integrity:** Guard against improper modification or destruction and support confidence in authenticity. Controls may include digital signatures, change control, validation, and audit records.
- **Availability:** Provide timely, reliable access to information and services. Controls may include redundancy, capacity planning, recovery arrangements, and denial-of-service protection.
- **Important limitation:** The triad is a set of objectives, not a complete security program or a checklist of products. Privacy, safety, accountability, resilience, and usability may require additional analysis.

### Related terms

[Information security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/information-security/>) · [Cyber risk](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/cyber-risk/>) · [Data classification](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/data-classification/>) · [Encryption](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/encryption/>) · [Cyber resilience](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/cyber-resilience/>)

### Sources

[FIPS 199: Standards for Security Categorization](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/199/final) · [NIST glossary: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability](https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/confidentiality_integrity_availability)

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