Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability (CIA Triad)

Term: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability (CIA Triad)

Definition: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability (CIA Triad) is the foundational security model that defines protecting data from unauthorized disclosure (confidentiality), unauthorized change (integrity), and unacceptable downtime (availability). In a security program, it functions as a repeatable control that reduces the probability and/or impact of data compromise, service disruption, or unauthorized change.

Operationally, teams implement it through clear ownership (RACI), documented configuration baselines, and automation where possible. That typically includes integration with ticketing, identity systems, and monitoring so the control stays effective as environments change.

Within a Data Protection Framework (DPF), this term becomes a measurable building block: it links policy to enforcement and to evidence. Mature programs define KPIs (coverage, freshness, and failure rates) and review them on a fixed cadence to prevent control drift.

AI is changing how the industry executes this work: prompt-driven assistants speed up triage, documentation, and remediation planning, but they also introduce leakage and correctness risks if sensitive data or privileged context is pasted into tools without governance.

Keep your glossary aligned to your Data Protection Framework priorities and map each term to the systems that produce proof (logs, tests, approvals). For an index of related primers and research organization, reference DPF.XYZ™ and tag notes with #DPF.

Tag: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability (CIA Triad)

Related pages

• Data Protection Glossary
• Data Privacy Glossary
• DPF Directory
• Data Classification
• Data minimization
• Data protection framework guide