Information security software is a term that is associated with two different software components viz computer network security software and computer database security software. Designing information security software involves a series of processes that include:
- security risk analysis
- information security risk assessment
Then a formulation of this knowledge into an algorithm that will then be turned into an information security program is required.
Information Security Software: What is Information Security
Information security is a term that is used everywhere, e.g., online transactions involving transfer of money, signing in to an email account, sending messages through a cell phone, and many such examples. Information security comes into play in almost every possible platform where information exchange of any form takes place.
With almost everyone getting connected through technology and large number of transfers of information, both personal and confidential, it has become even more a task for security handling agencies to maintain information security.
Information security involves several principles. While processing information or transferring it over a medium, several key points need to be kept in mind:
- Confidentiality
- Integrity
- Authenticity
Firstly, the confidentiality of the information must be maintained i.e., information must not be accessible to any unauthorized entity. Secondly, the integrity of the information must be preserved i.e., only authorized personnel should be allowed to modify the information. Lastly, authenticity of both the sender and receiver of the information must be checked.
Information Security Program
Several organizations maintain an information security program to set standards for information security within the organization. These programs are formulated by organizations to ensure accuracy, security and protection of information within the organization. These programs prevent and protect against any threat towards the security of the information related to the organization.
These information security programs help design guidelines towards information security of the organization. These guidelines include the strength of the security policies and measures, the tools and information security software being used to monitor security, recognizing the potential threats to the organizational security, and the effectiveness of the risk management program or software deployed by the organization.
For a detailed article on what guidelines should an information security software follow, read the article Information Security Best Practices by Matthew Pulvinski published in Corporate Compliance Insights.
What is Information Security Software
As discussed earlier, an information security software essentially consists of two different software components, namely the database security software and the network security software.
Database security software will include all necessary software implementations that prevent a database from unauthorized scanning or theft of information from the database. A typical database security software will include features that help in establishing authenticity, auditing, access control, encryption and integrity control of the database. All of the above are separate software components but when put together, they form the basic part of an information security software viz the database security software.
The major part of a computer network security software is detection and prevention of intrusion from unauthorized personnel or entities on a network. These again may include a number of different software components such as network monitoring software, firewalls, encryption software, vulnerability scanning software, antivirus software, intrusion detection systems, packet sniffers, application specific scanners and many more.
A list of several network security software, an essential component of an information security software, can be found in Top 100 Network Security Tools the website on the website sectools.org
Sources:
- Information Security
- Information Security Booklet from Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
- Information Security Management - A new Paradigm by Jan Eloff from Pretoria University
- Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems from National Institute of Standards and Technology
Ashutosh Tiwari - Ashutosh Tiwari is an engineer by profession, specialized in Computer Science. With SCJD and SCJP certifications, he works in the field of ...
