ISC Security Fundamentals · Updated November 2026
Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability: What Is the Security Control Protecting?
The CIA triad classifies what security controls are trying to protect.
Confidentiality
Prevents unauthorized disclosure of information using controls such as encryption, access restrictions, and classification.
Integrity
Protects information from unauthorized or improper alteration using controls such as hashing, change controls, and approvals.
Availability
Keeps systems and information accessible to authorized users through redundancy, backups, failover, and disaster recovery.
Overlap
One control can support multiple objectives, so identify the primary security goal in the fact pattern.
The takeaway
Confidentiality protects secrecy. Integrity protects correctness. Availability protects access.
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FAQ
Does encryption primarily support confidentiality?
Yes.
Do backups support availability?
Yes.
Does hashing help detect unauthorized changes?
Yes.