security

Security refers to the protection of assets from threats in order to reduce risk to an acceptable level. It covers people, property, information, and processes, and applies across both physical and digital environments. Security aims to deter threats, detect incidents, respond to them, and restore normal operations.

Central to most security frameworks is the protection of three fundamental properties: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality prevents disclosure to unauthorized parties; integrity ensures information is accurate and unaltered; availability guarantees access to authorized users when needed. Accountability assigns responsibility for actions, enabling auditing and deterrence.

Security disciplines are organized into physical security, information security, and cyber or digital security. Physical security uses barriers, access controls, surveillance, and environmental controls. Information security covers policies, classification, encryption, access management, and audit mechanisms. Cybersecurity focuses on software, networks, and systems protection through authentication, patching, incident monitoring, and threat intelligence.

Security programs rely on systematic risk assessment to identify threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts, followed by layered controls. Practices such as defense in depth, least privilege, and zero trust reduce exposure. Security by design embeds protective measures into products and processes from the outset.

Operations include monitoring, incident response, recovery planning, backups, and business continuity. Governance and compliance involve policies, training, roles, and adherence to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST, and industry regulations. Ethical and privacy considerations guide data handling and user rights.

Threats vary by domain and include theft, tampering, fraud, social engineering, malware, ransomware, and espionage. The security posture of an organization depends on people, technology, and processes, as well as timely updates and ongoing evaluation of risk.