But the very innovations which have led to the development of the Information Society make information more difficult to secure. Increasingly, organisations and their information systems are faced with a range of security threats from computer-assisted fraud to sabotage to the more traditional threats of vandalism, fire, flood and other disasters. Computer viruses and computer hackers are a continuing threat. Most serious security incidents are commonly described as accidental a term which can include carelessness and ignorance. Information is a business asset and it needs to be suitably protected to ensure business continuity, minimise business damage and maximise return on investment and business opportunities.
Information security is about the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information.
To a business that means having information available to it when it needs it about having software that works, networks that do not crash and power supplies that do not fail. It means being able to trust in the integrity of information that transmitted invoices or orders have not been altered and that they are from whom they appear to be from. And it is being able to trust that the information you receive, on a confidential business or personal basis, has not been seen first by others. Information security is about safe-guarding your business s money, image, reputation and potential perhaps its very existence. The consequences of security incidents can be disastrous but they are avoidable.