When you think of the CIA, odds are you are thinking about the Central Intelligence Agency.
However in this case, CIA refers to something else; Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. It is often used in the field of computer science, and a secure system must uphold all three.
Confidentiality refers to preventing the information from entering the hands of unauthorized individuals.
An example of this would be a student being blocked from viewing other students' Aspen pages. This part of the triad would be broken if a student was able to view these confidental pages.
Integrity refers to ensuring only authorized users are able to modify what is on a page.
An example of this would be only teachers being permitted to change grades on Aspen. This part of the triad would be broken if a student was able to change their own grades, because even if they are permitted to view it, they are not permitted to edit it.
Availability refers to allowing authorized users to view the information.
An example of this would be a student being able to log onto Aspen and see their grades. This part of the triad would be broken if the website was down, preventing students and teachers from seeing grades.
The CIA triad is the basic security goal of pretty much anything, and I think that of all the talk about securing your information, it is important to know what the goal of this is.
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