Software Architect's Handbook

The CIA triad

The CIA triad represents some primary goals for information security and the protection of information assets. The CIA triad summarizes the attributes that we want our software systems to exhibit. CIA stands for confidentiality, integrity, and availability:

You may see the CIA triad referred to as the AIC triad in order to avoid confusion with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Software architects should strive for a balance between the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. Let's now take a closer look at the three fundamental objectives of the CIA triad.