Tech
What is the difference between network security, information security, and computer security?
What is the difference between network security, information security, and computer security?
It’s easy to get confused by the terminologies used in the Information Technology industry, such as Network Security, Information Security, Computer Security, Cyber Security, etc.
To understand the difference let’s see how they are defined.
Computer Security — is a process and the collection of measures and controls that ensures the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (C.I.A) of the assets in computer systems.
- C stands for Confidentiality which ensures authorized access and disclosure.
- I stand for Integrity that ensures proper modification or destruction
- A stand for Availability that ensures timely and reliable access and use.
Computer Security protects both the software and hardware part of a computer system from getting compromised and exploited. If a computer can be infected without ever being connected to the internet, e.g by USB, then may spread to your LAN and infect other computers or workstations, damaging files, if your workstation is connected to the internet, this could be easily spread over other devices connected to the internet unprotected!
Computer Security concerns with the following asset to protect:
- Computer hardware devices such as PC, servers, tablets, notebooks, laptops, etc.
- Network devices such as routers, switches, etc.
- Software, firmware, and operating system.
Network Security — any activity designed to protect the usability and integrity of your network and data. It includes both hardware and software technologies.
Effective network security manages access to the network. It targets a variety of threats and stops them from entering or spreading on your network.
Network security concerns with the following:
- Firewall,
- Antivirus,
- Penetration testing,
- Intrusion detection,
- Computer forensics,
- Access controls
- System monitoring
- Patch management
- Data encryption
Information Security —is a significant asset that can be stored in different ways such as digitally stored, printed, written on paper, or in human memory. It can be communicated through different channels such as spoken languages, and gestures, or using digital channels such as email, SMS, social media, video, audio, etc.
Information security is primarily concerned with making sure that data in any form is kept secure in terms of preserving its confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Information Security concerns with the following:
- Intellectual property
- Regulatory compliance
- Business Integrity
- Industrial espionage or spy
- Governance
- Crisis management
- Business continuity
- Risk analysis
- and more.
Information Security is more business oriented while Network Security and Computer Security are more technology oriented.
As the Editor-in-Chief, a Cybersecurity Professional and experienced software engineer, he writes tech news articles, and tutorials relating to software development, computer security, cybersecurity, and network security.
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