What is Information Security (InfoSec)?

The Importance of Information Security

Information security and implementing proper policies and procedures to keep your data safe are fundamental parts of running a business today.

With surging cyberattacks (nearly 50% more attacks in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024) and the global cost of data breaches continuing to rise (an average of $4.9 million, 10% higher in 2024 than in 2023), information security has never been more crucial than it is currently.

With proper information security best practices and processes in place, you can:

• Protect your organization’s sensitive information and prevent unauthorized users from accessing, modifying, or disclosing it.
• Guarantee information security compliance with relevant regulations. This could include adhering to GDPR for European organizations or industry-specific information security compliance, such as HIPAA or PCI-DSS.
• Protect your organization’s reputation and prevent loss of business as customers, increasingly aware of data privacy issues, become unwilling to use services that don’t take information security seriously.
• Maintain business continuity by ensuring information is always accessible when needed while minimizing the risk of disruption due to security incidents. These could include ransomware or denial-of-service attacks.

Tools and Technologies with Information Security Capabilities

Given the scale of information security, organizations must rely on a range of tools to implement their strategies and deliver the required protections. These tools often provide automated information security controls and reporting capabilities.

Commonly used InfoSec tools include:

• Information Security Management System (ISMS): Used to identify information security threats, establish specific policies, and ensure regulatory compliance. An effective ISMS helps oversee other tools to implement appropriate, automated information security controls that keep your data protected.
• Identity Access Management (IAM): Manages users and controls their access to different information and systems on the network. With effective IAM tools, you can ensure that only authorized users have access to your information. Additionally, you can implement a range of information security best practices, such as role-based access controls and least privilege access.
• Firewalls: Firewalls filter traffic coming in and out of your corporate network to identify and block suspicious packages. With the development of Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) and Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), firewalls now offer specialized protection for web applications and APIs while integrating additional security controls, including intrusion protection systems.
• Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS): Closely related network security tools that spot suspicious activity, potential threats, and policy violations. While IDSs typically detect suspicious network traffic, IDPs add automated information security features to block them. It is common to integrate both tools with Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS).
• Cloud access security brokers (CASBs): CASBs track traffic between end users and SaaS applications to ensure security policies are properly enforced, misconfigurations are not present, and identify instances of unauthorized applications being used, also known as shadow IT.
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools: DLP tools offer a range of information security functionality, including encryption, policy enforcement, data classification, and real-time monitoring. By categorizing the sensitivity of information and tracking its movement, DLP tools can alert security teams if users are breaking InfoSec policies.
• Endpoint detection and response (EDR): Tracks files and software on various devices, or endpoints, to identify potential threats and activities that require further investigation.
• Security information and event management (SIEM): Provides real-time response capabilities for information security threats. SIEMs centralize logs from a range of different sources to identify patterns and link related activity across various systems. This enables immediate incident response to limit the impact of potential attacks. SIEMs also ensure information security compliance through reporting capabilities for audits.
• User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA): Technologies that track user behavior to develop a model of “normal” operations. For example, tracking who (employees and customers) accesses what data and from where (location and device) on a day-to-day basis. By understanding normal behavior within your organization, UEBA can send alerts and trigger enhanced security controls when user behavior deviates from what is expected.
• Microsegmentation: Splitting data centers into granular segments to limit lateral movement in the event of a successful attack.

Information Security Threats

An organization’s data can be leaked, breached, destroyed, or otherwise impacted in a variety of ways. Some common information security threats include the following:

• Vulnerable Systems: Most modern organizations store and process their data on computer systems. If these systems contain vulnerabilities, an attacker may be able to exploit these vulnerabilities to gain access to the data that they contain.
• Social Engineering: Social engineering is one of the most common information security threats that companies face. It involves the use of deception, manipulation, or coercion to get a user to take some action, such as installing malware or handing over sensitive data.
• Malware: Many types of malware — such as information stealers and ransomware — are designed to target an organization’s data. If an attacker can install malware on an organization’s systems, they can use the malware to steal, encrypt, or destroy data.
• Missing Encryption: Encryption is one of the most effective ways to protect data against unauthorized access and potential leakage. Failing to encrypt data leaves it vulnerable to potential breaches.
• Security Misconfigurations: Systems and applications have various configuration options that can impact their security. If these configurations are set improperly, they may leave data vulnerable to unauthorized access.

Challenges in Maintaining Information Security

With complex corporate network deployments and evolving threats, maintaining information security is  challenging. Modern products and business operations are built on seamless and fast data access across a range of interconnected systems and applications.

This puts significant pressure on information security practices to ensure data is highly accessible without compromising confidentiality or integrity. Beyond this, the key InfoSec challenges organizations face are:

• Integration: Integrating information security controls with existing infrastructure.
• Compliance: Ensuring information security compliance in an evolving regulatory landscape.
• Information classification: Accurately categorizing data based on its sensitivity and the potential consequences if it were made public.
• Lack of flexibility: Developing information security practices that deliver protections today while also remaining flexible to adapt to tomorrow’s needs.

Maintenance: Reviewing InfoSec processes for performance and accuracy. For example, reviewing and updating information classification methods to ensure they still meet your needs.

Best Practices for Implementing Effective Information Security Measures

Here are the best practices to implement effective information security measures:

Establish a Comprehensive Information Security Policy

Develop a well-documented, organization-wide information security policy that defines:

• Objectives
• The roles and responsibilities of different participants
• Guidelines for acceptable data use
• Relevant regulatory requirements
• Security controls and enforcement mechanisms

A clear InfoSec policy contains all the guidelines you need to keep your information safe.

An information security policy should be guided by risk assessments that identify your most sensitive assets and estimate the potential impact of data breaches. This should also be reviewed regularly to ensure it remains fit for purpose, given the threats, technological changes, and organizational shifts.

Implement Access Controls based on the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP)

Access control is a fundamental principle of information security, ensuring that only approved users can view or edit databases.

A key access control best practice to limit the impact of compromised accounts is the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP). This states that users and systems should have access to only the minimum amount of information necessary to complete their tasks.

Utilize Strong Authentication Procedures

Implement robust authentication procedures to verify that users are who they claim to be.

This means relying on more than a simple password and enforcing multi-factor authentication, which requires a second credential. This could include:

• A one-time code sent to the user’s secure device
• Integrating biometric authentication

Encrypt Sensitive Data in Transit and at Rest

Don’t just encrypt your data when it is being sent across untrusted networks. Use strong encryption standards to protect information both at rest (when stored) and in transit (when being transmitted across any network).

Plus, follow information security best practices for key management, such as secure storage, periodic rotation, and limited access to encryption keys.

Back Up Data Regularly and Securely

Regularly back up your data to ensure you have encrypted copies stored in multiple locations.

Data backups help organizations recover and get back to normal operations after data loss or ransomware attacks.

Limit Shadow IT and Enforce SaaS Governance

The unauthorized use of SaaS applications introduces unmonitored vulnerabilities.

Implement discovery tools, such as CASBs, to identify unsanctioned applications and train employees to use only approved SaaS applications.

Train Employees on Security Awareness

Train employees on security awareness and information security best practices to prevent social engineering attacks or user errors that create unnecessary vulnerabilities.

Examples include identifying phishing emails, password hygiene, and secure data handling practices.