Information can also be sensitive. There are many reasons why this may be the case, ranging from a justifiable desire for privacy to information that is sensitive on a national security level. Sometimes the sensitivity comes from the content of the information, at other times the timing of the information. For example, it is unacceptable to allow some stock market investors to become aware of an impending profits warning from a company before others, so the information is regarded as sensitive until it is published formally to all investors. The power associated with information must also not be underrated.
Some organizations have legal obligations to safeguard certain items of information.
In some cases divisions within organizations are subject to similar constraints. There are many examples of information that are intrinsically powerful, for example, information about military weapons. Along with all of the sensitivity that naturally accompanies information, there is a growing need to communicate digitally, because of the speed and convenience of doing so. However, in certain ways these digital communications are more vulnerable to compromise. Two major weaknesses in digital communications arise from the fact that it is notoriously easy to intercept digital messages, and the fact that it is notoriously difficult to establish identity conclusively in an online environment.