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What is Information Security? Why Learn about it?

Bottom-Up Definition

  • Concern for information policy, information privacy, information ownership
  • Assessing and understanding integrity, accuracy, verifiability and other information qualities
  • Study of encryption, data assurance, practices in organizations
  • Techniques for assessing information value, risk assessment, scenarios
  • Information security as the sum of activities relating to being able to demonstrate continued value in information (aka, resistance to attack or accident)

Top-Down Definition

  • Information has become increasingly commodified. The growth of computers and networks means that there is less reliance on physical location or physical artifacts in value-adding information processes
  • We need to study information security specifically, as part of the necessary infrastructure for all information activities
  • Failure to attend to information security is perilous!

Your view

  • What's your interest in information security?
  • What does information security mean to you?
  • What would you like to get out of this course?

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UNC SILS
Prof. Greg Newby