Which security principle ensures that data is accurate and trustworthy?

The correct answer is integrity. This principle is fundamental in cybersecurity and information assurance, emphasizing that data should remain accurate, reliable, and unaltered, except by authorized individuals or processes. Ensuring data integrity means putting in place measures to safeguard against unauthorized modifications, whether those alterations are accidental or malicious.

Integrity involves mechanisms like checksums, hashing, and digital signatures, which help verify that data has not been tampered with or corrupted during storage or transmission. For instance, when data is transmitted over a network, integrity checks ensure that the recipient can confirm the data received remains the same as originally sent.

While confidentiality focuses on keeping information secret and only accessible to authorized users, availability ensures that authorized users have access to data when needed. Authenticity pertains to verifying the identity of users or systems, ensuring that the source of the data can be trusted. Each of these principles plays a vital role in the broader framework of information security, but integrity specifically addresses the accuracy and trustworthiness of the data itself.