Information Security an area of the
Information Technology field. We can all
agree that data in businesses, organizations, and even our own personal data
needs to be protected. Organizations
hire a team of Information Security specialists to keep their businesses
running while securing their data. When it comes to personal data, we all as
regular users can have updated anti-viruses installed in our computers. Information
Security does not only protect data stored within our networks, but it also
protects data while it is being transmitted throughout the internet, for example,
by e-email, instant message, etc. Without going into details about how this
complex procedure works, in summary, the data being transmitted gets broken
apart in bits of pieces and going through algorithms to finally become
encrypted. No one else can open that document or data because it contains an
encryption key that only the recipient has access to. While this is only a
technique used to transmit data securely over the internet, securing data in a
regular day basis for an organization also has techniques based on the
infrastructure of the network. Of course it couldn’t be as simple as just
implementing security in the business world. Information Security Specialists
have to be able to determine just about how much security is to be implemented
without slowing down business productivity. Sometimes if there is too much
security implemented, users may be restricted to some network resources, such
as online network services or files and documents needed to get their particular
jobs done.
In conclusion, there will always be a tradeoff
between Information Security and Network Resource Availability. Specialists can only strive for the perfect balance between the two, but after many studies and
research on the topic, there will always be a tradeoff, it is just a matter of how important the data being secured is, and the overall network infrastructure. More on Introduction to Information Security.
A perfect example of the security vs availability topic is the internet connection here on George Mason's campus. Some services, especially online gaming services, do not work because Mason has such strict internet security. WiFi connectivity is also an issue that everyone on campus has experienced, especially in the last few months since their recent removal of WiFi options. I agree that too little security exposes data to threats but too much ruins my experience here at Mason and generates frustration among students.
ReplyDeleteA perfect example of the security vs availability topic is the internet connection here on George Mason's campus. Some services, especially online gaming services, do not work because Mason has such strict internet security. WiFi connectivity is also an issue that everyone on campus has experienced, especially in the last few months since their recent removal of WiFi options. I agree that too little security exposes data to threats but too much ruins my experience here at Mason and generates frustration among students.
ReplyDeleteI understand that it is very hard to attain a perfect balance in the Information Security and Network Availability but I really hope the scholars in your field are able to figure out a good solution to this because as a consumer of these resources and as a student who is expected to be able to use the internet to get the assignments done and get a good grade, it becomes frustrating and challenging to decide how I would want the trade off to work.
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ReplyDeleteWhenever I think about a failure for connectivity I always think about George Mason. I believe that the options should be available for students to choose if they want a speedy Internet connection with less security than a slow connection with beefed up security. That way if your are sending a sensitive document or even a respondus test you could use the secure browser and if you want to play some online games or just watch some netflix you could use “Mason Insecure”. Would this option be impossible because if you could break into Maon Insecure” would that allow you into Mason Secure?
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