Security Attributes in Cyber Security

The well-known security properties or attributes are:

• Confidentiality
• Availability
• Integrity
• Authentication
• Authorization
• Non-repudiation

The three properties confidentiality, integrity, and availability are generally known as CIA triad or as AIC triad. 

Confidentiality refers to the fact that the assets should be accessible to only authorized users. Confidentiality can be thought of as a part of privacy. Confidentiality can be implemented using encryption and decryption.

Integrity refers to the fact that the data or information either at transit or in the storage is complete and consistent i.e., it is not modified by any third party. Integrity can be implemented through the hash techniques.

Availability guarantees that the application or system or assets are available for use by the authorized users. What's the point if the assets are not available to use even if the user is genuine. Availability is implemented through backups, disaster and recovery mechanisms. 

Authentication allows the identification of users. It can deduce whether a user is valid or invalid. Authentication can be implemented using passwords, biometrics, etc. Authorization generally follows authentication.

 Authorization enforces access control which decides how far or up to which level has user access to. Authorization can be implemented using access control lists etc. 

Non-repudiation property ensures that a user can't deny his/her actions against the assets. Non-repudiation can be implemented using digital signatures.