Is there any difference between cybersecurity and information security? Even though this is a great question, it’s something we’ve heard over the years. Any cybersecurity professional looking to make it big in the world of data security should know these two terms. Cybersecurity and information security are used mostly interchangeably, particularly by those in the security sector. However, the two terms are not the same. They each address different types of security. So, what are Cybersecurity and Information Security, how unique are they, and why are they so often confused? Below, we will clarify these distinctions, explore a variety of significant overlap areas, discuss the differentiation, and concerns in the security sector.
Learning of blog
- What is cybersecurity?
- What is information security?
- Why are these terms so often confused?
- Key Differences
- Where Information Security and Cybersecurity Overlap
- In Summary
Let’s dive deep into the oceans of Cybersecurity and Information Security.
What is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity protects or defends cyberspace use from cyber attacks. Simply put, cybersecurity is linked to attacks from outside the organization. It is a framework for protecting and securing anything vulnerable to hacks, strikes, or unauthorized access, consisting mainly of computers, devices, networks, servers, and programs. Cybersecurity also applies exclusively to data protection that originates in a digital form and is specific to digital files.
What is Information Security?
We tend to think about computers and digital information when we think about information security, but relevant, valuable data can be stored in many forms. Information security is primarily concerned with the protection of confidentiality, integrity, and data availability, irrespective of its kind. Information security is, generally speaking, the practice of securing your data, whatever its form. It is the shielding of information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction to provide:
- Integrity means protecting against improper alteration or destruction of information and includes ensuring non-repudiation and authenticity of data.
- Confidentiality means maintaining unauthorized access and disclosure restrictions, including means to protect personal and proprietary information, and
- Availability means providing timely and reliable access to and use of data.
Why are These Terms so Often Confused?
There is some overrun between cybersecurity and information security, and there is some justified confusion as to the two terms. Most of the information is stored digitally on the network, the computer, the server, or the cloud.
In the field of information protection, primary care is to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. In cybersecurity, the primary concern is to prevent unauthorized electronic access to data. In both cases, it is necessary to consider which information, if accessed without authorization, is most damaging to the organization, so that a security system can be developed with appropriate controls to avoid unauthorized access. Where dedicated resources exist in separate teams, the two sides will likely work together to form a data protection framework, with the information security team prioritizing the data to be protected and the cybersecurity team developing a data protection protocol.
Key Differences
Definition
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting data, related technologies, and sources of storage from threats. On the other hand, information security protects information from unauthorized access that could result in undesired modification or deletion of data.
Domain
Cybersecurity means the protection of everything present in the cyber realm, such as data, information, devices, and technologies associated with it. Information security is concerned with the defense of all types of information, digital and analog, irrespective of the domain. Guarding social media profiles and personal data across the cyber realm is linked to cybersecurity. Information security, on the other hand, deals specifically with information assets, availability, and confidentiality of integrity.
Process
While cybersecurity is primarily concerned with protecting cyberspace and preventing cyberattacks, information security protects information from any form of threat and avoids such a dangerous scenario.
Professionals
Professionals interested in information protection are the base for computer security. These professionals give priority to resources before they deal with threats. Cybersecurity experts directly discuss advanced persistent risks.
Protection
Cybersecurity deals with all cyberspace threats. Information security, on the other hand, deals only with all types of risks to information. Cybersecurity deals specifically with cybercrimes, cyber fraud, and law enforcement. Disclosure alteration, destruction, and unauthorized access are the two most critical problems faced by the protection of information.
Where Information Security and Cybersecurity Overlap
There is a Physical Security Aspect for Both Cybersecurity and Information Security
As more data becomes digital, the process of data protection requires more sophisticated IT security tools. If data is stored physically or digitally, one must be sure that all the right physical access controls are in place to prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing it.
Both Take Into Account The Value of the Data
The main concern is to protect the company’s data from unauthorized access of any kind if you are in information security. Your primary care is to protect your company’s data from unauthorized electronic access if you are in cybersecurity. In all cases, however, the accuracy of the data is of maximum importance. Both individuals need to know what information is most censorious to the organization so that they can focus on ensuring the proper cyber risk management and monitoring of the data. In some scenarios, the information security professional would help the cybersecurity professional prioritize data protection, and then the cybersecurity professional would determine the best course of action for data protection. But with the evolving security landscape over the last decade, things aren’t always that black and white.
In Summary
Cybersecurity and cyber management are critical facets of technology that have flourished in the 21st century. You can check out a few network security certifications and cybersecurity certifications online as the ongoing advances in technology and IT; network security professionals need to remain up-to-date with all the latest technology advancements to handle and avoid these scenarios whenever and wherever possible.