Page 64 - (ISC)² CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide

the concept of the measures used to ensure the protection of the

secrecy of data, objects, or resources. The goal of confidentiality
protection is to prevent or minimize unauthorized access to data.
Confidentiality focuses security measures on ensuring that no one
other than the intended recipient of a message receives it or is able to
read it. Confidentiality protection provides a means for authorized
users to access and interact with resources, but it actively prevents
unauthorized users from doing so. A wide range of security controls

can provide protection for confidentiality, including, but not limited
to, encryption, access controls, and steganography.

If a security mechanism offers confidentiality, it offers a high level of
assurance that data, objects, or resources are restricted from
unauthorized subjects. If a threat exists against confidentiality,
unauthorized disclosure could take place. An object is the passive
element in a security relationship, such as files, computers, network
connections, and applications. A subject is the active element in a

security relationship, such as users, programs, and computers. A
subject acts upon or against an object. The management of the
relationship between subjects and objects is known as access control.

In general, for confidentiality to be maintained on a network, data
must be protected from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure while
in storage, in process, and in transit. Unique and specific security

controls are required for each of these states of data, resources, and
objects to maintain confidentiality.

Numerous attacks focus on the violation of confidentiality. These
include capturing network traffic and stealing password files as well as
social engineering, port scanning, shoulder surfing, eavesdropping,
sniffing, escalation of privileges, and so on.

Violations of confidentiality are not limited to directed intentional

attacks. Many instances of unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or
confidential information are the result of human error, oversight, or
ineptitude. Events that lead to confidentiality breaches include failing
to properly encrypt a transmission, failing to fully authenticate a
remote system before transferring data, leaving open otherwise
secured access points, accessing malicious code that opens a back