Information Security vs. Cybersecurity: What’s the Difference?

Protecting information and digital assets in today’s technology-driven world is crucial for individuals and businesses. Everyone should take precautions against cyberattacks, including malware, phishing, and hacking. These attacks can lead to consequences ranging from minor inconveniences to severe outcomes like data loss and financial harm. The Internet Crime Complaint Center has reported that, in 2023 alone, they received 880,418 cybercrime complaints from the American public, with potential losses exceeding $12.5 billion.

Good digital hygiene is essential on a personal level to prevent identity theft, safeguard individual privacy, and avoid financial fraud and loss. The same goes for businesses, which must also ensure that all work, business operations, and sensitive data remain secure. Unauthorized access to databases containing personal information can devastate both the individual whose data is leaked and the company responsible for protecting it.

While digital hygiene is an important first line of defense, understanding broader information security vs cybersecurity concepts is critical for comprehensive protection against evolving threats. Although these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they have distinct focuses and scopes.

“It is challenging for organizations to protect themselves. Any system that’s on the internet can be connected or attacked from anywhere in the world, so it is a very broad attack surface. From an attacker perspective, even if they send out millions of phishing emails and have just a tiny success rate, it can still have a major impact.”

— Mr. Christopher Simpson, CISSP, GPEN

Table of Contents

• What Is Information Security?
• What Is Cybersecurity?
• Overlap Between Information Security and Cybersecurity
• Differences Between Information Security and Cybersecurity
• Conclusion

In this article, we will clarify the differences Information Security vs. Cybersecurity, their respective roles and goals, and how they overlap. By the end, you should better understand which specialization aligns more with your career aspirations.

What Is Information Security?

Information security, also known as InfoSec, is the practice of protecting information in all its forms, digital, physical, and intellectual, from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. This broader scope goes beyond the digital realm and also includes physical records, intellectual property, and communication channels.

Information security encompasses protecting data through methods such as encryption, access control, creating redundant systems, securing facilities, and so on. The crux of InfoSec is ensuring that all forms of data and information remain confidential, maintain integrity, and are available when needed. In the next section, we will discuss the confidentiality, integrity, and access (CIA) triad in more depth.

To illustrate the importance of information security in business, let’s look at the Sony Pictures hack that took place a few years ago. In 2014, North Korean state actors gained access to Sony’s network by tricking employees into revealing their login passwords through phishing emails.

Once inside the network, the hackers used malware to steal more than 100 TB of data. They managed to access unreleased movies, personal employee information, and private emails. The attackers also deleted data from Sony computers and left threatening messages attempting to blackmail Sony into complying with their demands.

This hack exposed several security weaknesses and bad practices at Sony, including employees leaving Post-it notes with passwords on their desks, inadequate disaster recovery capabilities, weak access control, and inconsistent implementation of basic security controls like encryption. The fallout was significant, leading to financial losses, reputational damage, and several lawsuits.

Key Areas of Information Security

As mentioned earlier, the confidentiality, integrity, and availability triad is a key concept in information security. These three pillars work together to provide robust protection for information by keeping it private, trustworthy, and accessible to authorized users.

Confidentiality ensures that information is only accessible to those authorized to view it. Methods used to protect digital data include encryption, secure communication channels such as VPNs, multi-factor authentication, and access control policies. Physical measures involve securing rooms with key cards, using secure disposal for sensitive documents, visitor management, and training employees on social engineering techniques attackers use to gain access to systems.

Maintaining integrity ensures the accuracy and completeness of information and prevents unauthorized modifications. This means using digital signatures, audit logs, version control systems, and regular backups for digital data. Using tamper-proof seals on sensitive documents and devices and having regular inspection processes help safeguard physical information from theft, loss, and corruption.

Availability means that information is accessible when authorized users need it. For digital information, this means using load balancing on servers, having disaster recovery plans in case of cyberattacks or system failures, and using distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection. Securing physical assets involves using environmental controls such as fire suppression systems, backup generators, and redundant systems in different geographic locations.

Governance and compliance build upon the CIA triad, providing a framework and guiding an organization’s security efforts. Governance helps set policies and define roles and responsibilities in security and risk management. Compliance ensures that organizations comply with relevant regulations and standards. For example, healthcare systems must abide by HIPAA, the EU has GDPR, which regulates the collection of personal data, and the ISO/IEC27001 is an international standard providing guidance on managing information security.

What Is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is a subset of information security focused specifically on protecting digital data, systems, and networks from cyber threats such as hacking, malware, phishing, and other forms of cyber attacks. In contrast to information security, which includes safeguarding physical assets, cybersecurity is primarily concerned with digital environments like computer systems, networks, and cloud services.

A real-world example of cybersecurity failure is the Equifax data breach of 2017. In this attack, hackers exploited a known vulnerability in a web application framework used by Equifax. Because the company did not apply an available patch to the vulnerability, attackers were able to steal the personal data of approximately 147 million people, which included Social Security numbers, birthdates and more.

The company suffered reputational damage and financial losses from lawsuits. Millions of Americans were left to deal with the fallout from the Equifax data breach, including the increased risk of identity theft. This would have been prevented if the company followed standard cybersecurity measures, such as patching its systems.

Key Areas of Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity encompasses critical domains, including network security, endpoint security, application security, and incident response. These domains work together to protect organizations from digital attacks.

Network security protects the integrity and usability of a network infrastructure. It includes the use of firewalls, VPNs, and intrusion detection systems to keep bad actors out.

Endpoint security keeps individual devices such as computers, smartphones, and tablets safe from cyber threats. It is a more evolved and mature antivirus solution that provides comprehensive protection from malware and zero-day threats (vulnerabilities attackers exploit before a software or hardware vendor can patch them).

Application security ensures that software and applications are secure from vulnerabilities that cyber criminals could exploit. Some methods include security audits, data encryption, staying up to date with patches and updates, penetration testing, and best-practice coding techniques.

Incident response is a process for responding to and mitigating the impact of cybersecurity breaches. Organizations should have written documentation outlining how they will react before, during, and after security incidents. These plans will clarify roles and responsibilities, the business continuity plan, and a summary of tools and technologies to be used.

Overlap Between Information Security and Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a crucial component of the broader information security framework. Think of information security as the umbrella concerned with protecting all forms of information, whether digital or physical. Cybersecurity falls under that umbrella and is specifically focused on digital threats. However, information security encompasses a wider range of concerns, including physical security, risk management, data governance, and policy development.

Common Goals

Both disciplines share the common goals of protecting sensitive data, ensuring business continuity, and maintaining trust in systems and processes. Professionals in both fields work together to create comprehensive security strategies and address both digital and non-digital threats.

“One of the biggest things for organizations is not to see security as a bolt-on. You need to embed security into your processes right from the start, especially when developing applications. If you make it part of your normal workflow, you can stay efficient while still protecting critical information.”

— Mr. Christopher Simpson, CISSP, GPEN

You may be familiar with some common career titles within the IT security industry. Cybersecurity specialists have job titles like network security engineer, penetration tester, and cryptographer. Information security specialists have titles such as chief information security officer, risk manager, and compliance officer.

Differences Between Information Security and Cybersecurity

While information security and cybersecurity share common goals, some differences separate them into distinct career categories. We’ll briefly look at each in terms of scope and focus, approaches and techniques, and regulatory and compliance aspects.

Scope and Focus

Information security covers a broad range of information protection, whether stored digitally or physically. It ensures the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data regardless of its format. The aim is to protect all assets with sensitive information, including paper files, digital databases, and physical locations.

Cybersecurity has a much narrower focus, dealing specifically with digital environments and cyber threats. Specialists in this area secure digital information and systems from malicious attacks, such as hacking, malware, ransomware, and phishing attempts.

Approaches and Techniques

Information security professionals often utilize a range of strategies, including physical security measures, data encryption, access control, and policy development. These approaches safeguard everything from physical records and facilities to digital assets, while establishing governance frameworks and policies that protect all forms of information.

Cybersecurity experts, on the other hand, primarily focus on technical solutions such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, antivirus software, encryption, and penetration testing. This specialized knowledge gives them a deeper understanding of detecting, preventing, and responding specifically to digital threats. This complementary area of expertise makes cybersecurity and information security professionals a perfect pairing for a holistic organizational security strategy.

Regulatory and Compliance Aspects

Information security experts are more likely to work on projects involving compliance with broader data protection regulations and standards that apply to all forms of information. For example, they would be concerned with regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and GDPR, access control policies, and compliance with broad regulations like SOC 2.

Cybersecurity usually involves adherence to specific cybersecurity frameworks and guidelines, such as the NIST cybersecurity framework or CIS controls, that focus on digital security.

Conclusion

Information security and cybersecurity share the same goal of protecting data. While they overlap, they serve different purposes within the broader context of protecting data and systems. Cybersecurity, which deals strictly with data and information in the digital realm, falls under the umbrella of information security, which protects all data regardless of form.

When deciding which path you’d rather take, consider your specific needs and career goals. For example, consider focusing on information security or cybersecurity.

A typical day for an information security professional involves developing policies, monitoring compliance, and safeguarding digital and physical assets. In contrast, a cybersecurity professional’s focus is on protecting digital systems. They may spend their day monitoring network activity, responding to threats, or conducting penetration tests.

The big question is, would you rather focus on the overarching strategy for securing all forms of information and preventing disasters like the Sony Pictures hack? Or would you rather drill down and become an expert in the digital systems security niche, stopping catastrophic data breaches like the Equifax incident from happening?

If you are interested in pursuing a career in one of these exciting fields or learning more about the latest trends and practices, take a look at some of these great sources:

• National University’s online resources for information security and cybersecurity
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• The Open World Application Security Project (OWASP)
• Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

If you’d like to pursue a career in cybersecurity or want more information, check out National University’s cybersecurity program for details.

This content has been reviewed and approved by the National University Editorial Advisory Board. Learn more about our editorial process.

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