2.The CIA Triad

The CIA Triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability) is the foundation of information security and one of the most important concepts in the ISC2 CISSP certification exam. Confidentiality ensures that sensitive information is accessible only to authorized users through controls like access control, encryption, and secure communication. Integrity protects data accuracy and trustworthiness by preventing unauthorized modifications using mechanisms such as digital signatures, hashes, and checksums. Availability ensures that systems and data remain accessible through backups, redundancy, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery. CISSP candidates must also understand the DAD Triad (Disclosure, Alteration, Denial), which represents attacks against the CIA principles. Success in the CISSP exam requires not only knowing the CIA Triad but also identifying which security objective should be prioritized in different business and risk scenarios.