1.1 What is Cybersecurity and Why It Matters

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks.
For a corporation, this translates to Business Continuity.
A successful attack does not just steal data; it stops operations.

The CIA Triad: The “Physics” of Corporate Security

• Confidentiality (Privacy):
  Preserving authorized restrictions on access and disclosure.
  • Corporate Example:
    Protecting merger & acquisition (M&A) plans, client financial records,
    and employee PII (Personally Identifiable Information).
    A breach here leads to regulatory fines and loss of trust.
• Integrity (Accuracy):
  Guarding against improper information modification or destruction.
  • Corporate Example:
    Ensuring that financial ledgers, code repositories, or patient health records
    have not been subtly altered by an attacker to cause long-term damage.
• Availability (Reliability):
  Ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information.
  • Corporate Example:
    Defending against Ransomware or DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks
    that take websites offline, costing thousands of dollars per minute in lost revenue.

• The “Human Firewall”:
  Technology catches 90% of threats; the remaining 10%—often the most sophisticated—
  rely on human error. Your role is to be the final line of defense.