Why do people tend to confuse cybersecurity with InfoSec? In the same way, they also misuse the concepts. Find out in this article!
Eventually we have gotten people on blogs or news who tend to confuse the term InfoSec with cybersecurity, perhaps claiming that it is the same thing; however, it is a common mistake as these terms are deeply related to each other. Stick around to find out why.
What is the difference between cybersecurity and InfoSec?
On the one hand, to differentiate the definitions we must know what each is about.
First of all, we can understand by information security the preventive measures that the company applies; so that all the information that is of value in the company, regardless of its format; avoids being stolen or duplicated by third parties with bad intentions; in this way the protection of the integrity of these valuable documents is ensured.
On the other hand, cybersecurity is limited to the protection of digital files that are normally handled or interconnected through the Internet within the company; whose risks come through the so-called in other articles as “cyber-attacks“.
Now the main difference between the two is that cybersecurity, in fact, is part of information security; it can be seen as applying to a specific area of it, with certain tasks or responsibilities to be carried out, while information security is a totally broad concept that handles other areas of application, among this cybersecurity.
Other important differences
As we could notice in the previous point, we mainly exposed the difference between the concepts of cybersecurity and infoSec, in addition to naming certain important points; we will detail these points below.
First of all, we must point out that the formats in which the information to be defended is found are different depending on which approach we concentrate on (cybersecurity or infoSec).
As far as information security is concerned, these formats are usually very varied; so the measures applied to protect this information can cover security against computer attacks, as well as the protection of equipment against an electrical overload, among other examples.
On the IT security side; the differences between IT security and cybersecurity confirm that they are two different but complementary ways of ensuring that a company’s information is better protected against possible attacks.
On the cybersecurity side; the formats it protects are only digital files and files that are interconnected with the Internet.
As for the methodology of both concepts, in the case of infoSec it uses different resources to adapt to certain needs; an example could be that the information of a specific client is stored temporarily before passing it to a database; while, in cybersecurity, these methodologies are constantly changing because the threats are renewed and new ones are added each time.
What is the role of the workers in each area?
Of course, as we can imagine; each area has people in charge of the characteristics mentioned above. So in the case of infoSec, it is applied from the department of the corresponding company; so the other employees do not have to do with the processes that are carried out in that department.
On the other hand, in cybersecurity; the company should ask the employees to actively participate, since the cybersecurity of the company depends in part on all employees; so the company should always give tips or train the staff on cybersecurity threats. Some of these tasks explained in simpler ways can be:
- Control access, in order to prevent outsiders to enter the digital platforms.
- Protection of information at any time and any place.
- Detection and repair of any security weakness found and documentation of such events.
Types of InfoSec.
That’s right; within information security we have different areas where it is applied, along with different methodologies and people qualified for the job. Some of these are:
- Application security: in basic terms; this is in charge of the correction and protection of vulnerabilities that can be found in mobile application software and APIs (application programming interface); such vulnerabilities can be found in user authentication, configurations and major policies, etc. It should be noted that application security is an important part of InfoSec.
- Cloud security: this is responsible for creating secure and efficient hosting tools in the cloud environment and its shared use.
- Infrastructure security: these are responsible for protecting both internal and external networks, servers, mobile data, among others.
- Vulnerability management: this is in charge of looking for possible weaknesses within a specific structure, such as software or an application, in order to correct such weaknesses and thus avoid possible cyber-attacks.
What kind of preparation is needed within InfoSec?
Previously we talked about the workers that perform the tasks within the infoSec development; but we must also talk about the certifications or knowledge that such workers need to perform such jobs.
These certifications may vary depending on the area of application mentioned above; however, in each company there are people specialized in this area such as the CISO or CISM (chief information security officer and certified information security manager).
They can implement the function of trainers or trainers for other employees; and the employees in turn will be responsible for carrying out the work in the different information security departments.
In the same way it is also possible to take courses with organizations that provide this preparation; such courses can range from CompTIA Security+ to Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); among others.
With this information we hope that the terminology is used in the best way; also to have provided valuable information for people who are starting in the world of computer security; and want to increase their knowledge in the area of infosec.
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