Answer to Question #193334 in Computer Networks for Zeeshan

Question

How do you see three important security aspects (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability) while using social media apps like facebook, whatsapp etc? Which of these three is most important to consider? Share your thoughts.

Answer 1

• Confidentiality is when only the users and processes that are authorized are able to access and modify data.
• Integrity is preventing modification of data by malicious activity or even by accident.
• Availability is the ability of the authorized user to access information whenever they need to.
• Having used social media for more than five years, I feel that some social media apps have low confidentiality such as Facebook. It has been possible for hackers to gain access to people's apps and blackmail them in the past or post unwanted material to defame them. High profile cases of hacked Facebook and Twitter accounts have been reported. However, whatsapp has high confidentiality level as it uses end to end encryption which can hardly be hacked. It can therefore be said that Facebook and Twitter have equally lower integrity compared to whatsapp. I think all social media apps have high availability. There are exceptions in due to country restrictions such as China which banned all Google apps and in some countries without freedom of the media which shut down the internet and social media services particularly during election. Whatsapp has a relatively lower availability index since you can get blocked from using the service for violations such as using illegitimate applications or due to failure to update the application.
• I think the most important of the CIA triad is confidentiality. When unauthorized users and processes access and/or modify data, it eliminates the other security aspects such as integrity and availability. It is therefore, important that the confidentiality of the data is always given priority.