Which information security principle ensures data remains accurate and unaltered during transmission or storage?

Which information security principle ensures data remains accurate and unaltered during transmission or storage?

• A. Confidentiality
• B. Integrity
• C. Availability
• D. Authenticity - Non-Repudiation

Answer: (B)

The main concept here is data integrity: making sure data remains accurate and unaltered during transmission or storage. Integrity focuses on detecting and preventing modifications, so the information you have is exactly what was created or sent. Techniques like checksums, hashes, message authentication codes (MACs), and digital signatures help verify that the data hasn’t been changed, whether it’s moving across a network or sitting on a storage device. Confidentiality is about keeping data secret from unauthorized parties, not about whether it stays unchanged. Availability is about ensuring data is accessible when needed. Authenticity and non-repudiation deal with confirming who created the data and preventing denial of authorship, rather than guaranteeing the data’s exact, unaltered state. That’s why integrity is the best fit: it directly addresses accuracy and immutability of data.

The main concept here is data integrity: making sure data remains accurate and unaltered during transmission or storage. Integrity focuses on detecting and preventing modifications, so the information you have is exactly what was created or sent. Techniques like checksums, hashes, message authentication codes (MACs), and digital signatures help verify that the data hasn’t been changed, whether it’s moving across a network or sitting on a storage device.

Confidentiality is about keeping data secret from unauthorized parties, not about whether it stays unchanged. Availability is about ensuring data is accessible when needed. Authenticity and non-repudiation deal with confirming who created the data and preventing denial of authorship, rather than guaranteeing the data’s exact, unaltered state. That’s why integrity is the best fit: it directly addresses accuracy and immutability of data.