Do you know the differences between Cybersecurity, Computer Security, and Information Security? Today, a widely used concept is that of “Cybersecurity,” which can be associated with other words such as cyberspace, cyber threats, cybercriminals, or other associated concepts.
Despite having a general perception about what it represents, it is sometimes used as a synonym for Computer Security or Information Security. However, this idea is not entirely correct. The dilemma arises when it is necessary to properly apply the concepts according to the ideas intended to be expressed.
In this article, we explain what Cybersecurity, Computer Security, and Information Security are so that you know the differences between these concepts and can speak properly about each one of them:
Difference between Cybersecurity, Computer Security and Information Security
Next, we are going to define the different concepts to know their differences in the security environment:
What Is Cybersecurity?
As indicated by Kaspersky, Cybersecurity is the practice of defending, with offensive technologies or practices, computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks carried out by cybercriminals.
That is, its objective is to protect digital information in interconnected systems. Cybersecurity is included within Information Security.
What Is Computer Security?
Computer Security is the discipline responsible for protecting the integrity and privacy of the information stored in the computer system from cybercriminals, whose objectives are to obtain profits from or access the information acquired.
In other words, the role of Computer Security consists of managing risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information or data and the systems and processes used to carry out said activities.
What Is Information Security?
Information Security is the set of preventive and reactive measures that allow information to be stored and protected. It is the set of all those policies of use and measures that affect the treatment of stored data, whether a company, institution or individual.
In this sense, the information can be stored, processed, or transmitted in different ways: in electronic format, verbally, or through written or printed messages. So, Information Security can be as much about protecting an archive of important documents as it is about protecting your organization’s database.
Cybersecurity Vs. Computer Security Vs. Information Security
By reviewing the outlined concepts of Information Security, Cyber Security, and Computer Security, the main differences can be identified as:
Information Security caters for a greater scope than computer security and cyber security because its focus is to protect data from risks that are capable of affecting it. However, computer security and cyber security have a close relationship because they mainly focus on data in digital format and the connected systems that process, transfer or store the information.
Second, according to Kaspersky, Cybersecurity is responsible for carrying out offensive attacks against adversaries of digital security, while Information Security contemplates defensive aspects to protect interconnected information systems.
It is convenient to consider that depending on the context and the organization, and Cybersecurity is used for both defensive and offensive processes and systems; in the latter case, the concept of Cyber intelligence is more used.
Third, the areas of competence of Cybersecurity are of great relevance as they include networks, software, hardware, services, critical infrastructures such as technological infrastructure, etc. At the same time, Information Security includes people and everything related to compliance with information security regulations.
Cybera is a cyber security company that is designed for combating financial motivated crimes and helping victims with legal process.
