Information Security and Cyber Security are often confused to be the same, however, they are different. The common descriptions are so close that people mistake them to be synonyms and use them interchangeably. Although there are a number of areas that overlap, the terms are much different from one another.
Banking regulatory authorities like Reserve Bank of India, require banks to have distinct cybersecurity and information security policies. Consequently, there are some differences between the two that need to be clearly understood.
In this writeup, we will discuss the two domains and the similarities or difference from one another. Let’s get started.
Information Security and Cyber Security are distinct security types and it is important for organisations that invest in these types of security frameworks, to understand the two types, and how and in what way each of the two would impact the company’s security.
With the advent of so many new technologies each day, leading to doubts or confusions amongst the people not only in general but also amongst those who are working in the IT arena, it is just a matter of time before the users start questioning the differences between Information Security and Cyber Security.
We shall try to discuss and gain insights into the following sections in this writeup on “Information Security vs Cyber Security – Is there any difference”.
- What is Cyber Security?
- What is Information Security?
- Information Security vs Cyber Security
- Importance of Information Security
- Importance of Cyber Security
- Types of Information Security
- Types of Cyber Security
- Secure Your Data
What is Cyber Security?
Cyber Security is the ability to secure, protect and defend electronic data stored in servers, computers, mobile devices, networks and other devices, from being attacked and exploited. Identification of critical data, the risk it is exposed to, its residing region, etc. play a very important role in protecting this data. It aims to protect significant and sensitive data from any external threats and unauthorised attacks.
Now that it is clear and understood what Cyber Security is and how it protects the critical and sensitive data for both individuals and organisations, let us understand what Information Security is before moving ahead on understanding the various similarities or differences between Information Security and Cyber Security.
What is Information Security?
Information Security a.k.a InfoSec mainly refers to data security, be it in any form. As a professional, one is responsible for ensuring that the confidentiality, integrity and availability (CIA) of data remains intact. In today’s digital world, most of the data is stored on electronic devices such as desktops, servers, mobile devices or cloud. However, this was not the case about a couple of decades ago. The data was then stored in rooms and filing cabinets secured by lock before they were digitalised.
Information Security is a much broader field than Cyber Security, as it allows one to protect not just digital data but also the overall confidential and important data that requires security and protection.
Let us discuss the difference between the Information Security and Cyber Security in detail.
Information Security vs Cyber Security
So far, we have covered the two domains and why people often confuse one with the other or vice versa. Let us now look into details about the differences between Information Security and Cyber Security to enable us to differentiate between the two and also be able to understand which technology to implement in which scenario.
| Information Security | Cyber Security |
| It protects all forms of data from unauthorised access, modification, deletion, etc., to provide CIA | It mainly protects data in digital form, from external threats like Malware, Hackers, and other malicious activities that can take place on the Internet |
| It secures data from all types of attacks | It mainly protects data available in cyberspace from various cyber threats |
| It protects various types of data | It solely protects the data that is stored online |
| It serves as the baseline for security of data. Professionals in this domain prioritise data sources before dealing with the threats. | Cyber Security professionals, on the other hand, deal with advanced and complex threats. |
Now that we have got a glimpse of the differences of the two domains, let us now go through the importance of each of them.
Importance of Information Security
Information Security, like Cyber Security, plays a vital role in protecting the data of the companies. Some of the key roles of Information Security are given below:
- Protection of the company’s ability to function properly
- It secures the data that is collected, stored, and used by the organisations
- It allows organisations to conduct the operations for applications, securely within the IT environments
- It protects the Technology landscape of the organisation
Importance of Cyber Security
Both Cyber Security and Information Security are equally important for organisations to keep their data secure from various threats. Listed below are certain significant reasons, why Cyber Security plays an important role in organisations:
- Cyber attacks affect both individuals and companies
- The rapid changes and advancements in technology have given rise to number of cyber attacks
- Without cyber security in place, hackers or cybercriminals or attackers can create significant damage to the organisation, it’s business, and loss of data and
- Cyber attacks not only impact businesses but also impact individuals
- Cyber Security can aid in creation of new and improved guidelines / laws that help in protecting the data for both individuals and organisations from potential threats.
Types of Information Security
We bring here the various types of Information Security measures that will help an organisation in securing its’ data.
- Access Control: These controls are responsible for deciding who can have access to make use of the company’s network and data. They restrict the physical access of the users for company’s infrastructure and virtual access.
- Compliance Controls: These deal with Information Security Standards and Privacy Laws that aim to reduce security threats. They enforce requirements for data security and require data security risk assessment.
- Procedural Controls: they aim to detect and reduce security risks to all the physical assets of the organisation, including data centres, computer systems, etc. they also involve compliance training, security awareness, incident response procedures, business continuity plans, and security
- Technical Controls: they include the use of anti-virus, firewalls and multi-factor authentication (MFA) mechanisms, etc., to add an extra security
Types of Cyber Security
There are various cyber security measures that the professionals deal with on a regular basis. A few of them are listed below:
- Network Security: This security measure deals with securing the organisations networks from any misuse, interruption, unauthorised access, and service
- Cloud Security: It is a mix of multiple procedures, controls, technologies and policies that are designed to work together to keep cloud-based systems and infrastructure
- Application Security: This type of security measures, help in detecting, fixing, and enhancing the application security. It also enables companies to prevent hackers from stealing their application source code and the data that is stored along with the
- Critical Infrastructure: This type of security measure involves the use of a combination of multiple tools that offer a range of security services like Antivirus, DLP, PIMS, NAC, etc.
(DLP – Data Leakage Prevention; PIMS – Privileged Identity Management System; NAC – Network Access Control)
Conclusion: Secure Your Data
We have attempted to highlight the key difference between the Information Security and Cyber Security along with their importance and types of security measures that can be deployed or used by organisations or individuals to secure their sensitive and confidential data.
