1 00:00:00,090 --> 00:00:03,030 In this lesson, we're going to cover Integrity. 2 00:00:03,030 --> 00:00:04,650 Now, Integrity is the cornerstone 3 00:00:04,650 --> 00:00:06,450 in the realm of information security, 4 00:00:06,450 --> 00:00:08,070 because it helps to ensure that information 5 00:00:08,070 --> 00:00:10,440 and data remains accurate and unchanged 6 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:11,550 from its original state, 7 00:00:11,550 --> 00:00:15,000 unless intentionally modified by an authorized individual. 8 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,520 In essence, Integrity verifies the accuracy 9 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,480 and trustworthiness of the data over its entire lifecycle. 10 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,010 Now, let's imagine that you just finished 11 00:00:23,010 --> 00:00:24,690 an important final exam in school, 12 00:00:24,690 --> 00:00:27,060 and you handed it over to your instructor to be graded. 13 00:00:27,060 --> 00:00:28,440 You'll probably have the expectation 14 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:29,820 that nobody else is going to tamper 15 00:00:29,820 --> 00:00:31,920 with your answers or make unauthorized changes, 16 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,110 between the time you handed it into your instructor, 17 00:00:34,110 --> 00:00:37,110 and the time that you got your grade back for that exam. 18 00:00:37,110 --> 00:00:38,940 Now, if nothing was modified or changed, 19 00:00:38,940 --> 00:00:42,000 we would say that your exam integrity was maintained. 20 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,160 Similarly, in the world of cybersecurity, 21 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:46,320 we expect that our data is going to be reliable 22 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,870 and unaltered as it's processed, transferred, 23 00:00:48,870 --> 00:00:51,270 and stored by our systems and networks. 24 00:00:51,270 --> 00:00:53,490 So why is integrity so critical? 25 00:00:53,490 --> 00:00:56,280 Well, integrity is important for three main reasons. 26 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,080 We want to ensure data accuracy, 27 00:00:58,080 --> 00:00:59,550 we want to maintain trust, 28 00:00:59,550 --> 00:01:01,950 and we want to ensure system operability. 29 00:01:01,950 --> 00:01:04,141 First, we want to ensure data accuracy is occurring. 30 00:01:04,141 --> 00:01:06,510 Ensuring data accuracy is probably one 31 00:01:06,510 --> 00:01:08,100 of the most important reasons for worrying 32 00:01:08,100 --> 00:01:10,710 about the integrity of your organization's data. 33 00:01:10,710 --> 00:01:11,850 Just as you wouldn't want somebody 34 00:01:11,850 --> 00:01:13,980 to alter your written words without your consent, 35 00:01:13,980 --> 00:01:16,320 similarly, inside of our digital landscape, 36 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:19,050 whether it's a financial transaction or a medical record, 37 00:01:19,050 --> 00:01:22,290 the accuracy of that data will be critically important. 38 00:01:22,290 --> 00:01:24,090 Now, if our data integrity is maintained, 39 00:01:24,090 --> 00:01:26,310 this helps to ensure the decisions that are being made 40 00:01:26,310 --> 00:01:28,590 is being made based on correct information 41 00:01:28,590 --> 00:01:31,200 and the outcomes are what we expect them to be. 42 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,240 Second, we want to maintain trust, 43 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,090 both with our users and with our systems and networks. 44 00:01:36,090 --> 00:01:37,620 If users can't trust the data 45 00:01:37,620 --> 00:01:38,940 or information they're receiving, 46 00:01:38,940 --> 00:01:41,400 they simply won't trust your systems or networks. 47 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,890 For example, if you logged into your bank account today, 48 00:01:43,890 --> 00:01:45,300 and saw that it's been compromised, 49 00:01:45,300 --> 00:01:49,650 and now your bank account says $1052.43, 50 00:01:49,650 --> 00:01:54,030 instead of the $10,524.30 you thought you had, 51 00:01:54,030 --> 00:01:56,130 because the attacker altered your transaction history 52 00:01:56,130 --> 00:01:57,630 and removed a zero, 53 00:01:57,630 --> 00:02:00,210 you would no longer trust your bank with your money. 54 00:02:00,210 --> 00:02:02,130 After all, all they did was simply remove 55 00:02:02,130 --> 00:02:04,260 that one trailing zero from the account balance 56 00:02:04,260 --> 00:02:09,090 and now you've lost $9,471.87, right? 57 00:02:09,090 --> 00:02:10,800 I know if this happened to my bank account, 58 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,350 my trust in that bank would be immediately shattered 59 00:02:13,350 --> 00:02:14,880 and I would be looking for a new bank 60 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:16,530 to take my business to. 61 00:02:16,530 --> 00:02:18,720 Third, we have system operability. 62 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:20,730 After all, if the data is corrupted, 63 00:02:20,730 --> 00:02:22,410 then our systems are going to malfunction, 64 00:02:22,410 --> 00:02:24,120 and this can lead to unexpected behaviors 65 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,220 or system down-times that are going to affect 66 00:02:26,220 --> 00:02:27,930 our business's operations. 67 00:02:27,930 --> 00:02:31,050 So a breach of integrity could cause our systems to crash 68 00:02:31,050 --> 00:02:33,990 or become unresponsive if the data format is altered 69 00:02:33,990 --> 00:02:36,270 without authorization or consent. 70 00:02:36,270 --> 00:02:38,700 Now, in order to help us maintain the integrity of our data, 71 00:02:38,700 --> 00:02:40,140 our systems, and our networks, 72 00:02:40,140 --> 00:02:42,330 we're going to utilize five methods. 73 00:02:42,330 --> 00:02:45,540 These are Hashing, Digital Signatures, Checksums, 74 00:02:45,540 --> 00:02:48,000 Access Controls, and Regular Audits. 75 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:49,680 First, we have Hashing. 76 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,570 Hashing is the process of converting data 77 00:02:51,570 --> 00:02:53,580 into a fixed-size value. 78 00:02:53,580 --> 00:02:56,490 This way, even if a small part of the original data changes, 79 00:02:56,490 --> 00:02:58,860 the hash value will change dramatically, 80 00:02:58,860 --> 00:03:00,360 and this will indicate that there was some kind 81 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,340 of tampering that occurred to the data. 82 00:03:02,340 --> 00:03:05,130 This unpredictability and sensitivity to data changes 83 00:03:05,130 --> 00:03:06,870 makes Hashing an invaluable tool 84 00:03:06,870 --> 00:03:08,640 in verifying data integrity. 85 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:10,740 Because any minor alteration will result 86 00:03:10,740 --> 00:03:12,750 in a vastly different Hash. 87 00:03:12,750 --> 00:03:15,000 Essentially, the results of this Hashing function 88 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:16,650 is called a Hash Digest, 89 00:03:16,650 --> 00:03:18,420 and this Hash Digest will almost serve 90 00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:19,680 like a Digital Fingerprint 91 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,920 for any given piece of data to prove its integrity. 92 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:25,350 Second, we have Digital Signatures. 93 00:03:25,350 --> 00:03:27,450 Now, Digital Signatures use encryption to ensure 94 00:03:27,450 --> 00:03:29,760 both integrity and authenticity. 95 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:31,200 To digitally sign a file, 96 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:32,970 that file is first going to be Hashed 97 00:03:32,970 --> 00:03:35,880 and then that resulting Hash Digest will be encrypted, 98 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:37,860 using the user's Private Key. 99 00:03:37,860 --> 00:03:41,220 Now, this data is now digitally signed and any alterations 100 00:03:41,220 --> 00:03:43,890 to the file will drastically change the file's Hash, 101 00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:46,800 which in turn, would invalidate that Digital Signature. 102 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:48,990 This immediately lets us know that the data or file 103 00:03:48,990 --> 00:03:51,450 has been changed from its original format and therefore, 104 00:03:51,450 --> 00:03:53,790 integrity has been compromised. 105 00:03:53,790 --> 00:03:55,740 Third, we have Checksums. 106 00:03:55,740 --> 00:03:57,390 Now, Checksums are a method to verify 107 00:03:57,390 --> 00:04:00,420 the integrity of data being sent through a transmission. 108 00:04:00,420 --> 00:04:03,270 By comparing the sender's Checksum of that transmitted data 109 00:04:03,270 --> 00:04:05,100 with the receiver's calculated Checksum 110 00:04:05,100 --> 00:04:06,390 for the received data, 111 00:04:06,390 --> 00:04:08,520 we can determine if any unintended changes 112 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,500 in the data have been created. 113 00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:13,410 Basically, when data is sent from one location to another, 114 00:04:13,410 --> 00:04:15,960 the Checksum is also going to be sent along with it. 115 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,959 Upon receipt, the recipient can compute a new Checksum 116 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:20,700 for the received data and compare it 117 00:04:20,700 --> 00:04:23,130 to the provided Checksum that was sent over the network. 118 00:04:23,130 --> 00:04:24,630 If those two values match, 119 00:04:24,630 --> 00:04:26,850 this indicates the data has not been tampered with 120 00:04:26,850 --> 00:04:28,500 during the transmission and therefore, 121 00:04:28,500 --> 00:04:30,330 integrity has been maintained. 122 00:04:30,330 --> 00:04:32,580 However, if those values are different, 123 00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:34,830 this suggests some kind of alteration or corruption 124 00:04:34,830 --> 00:04:38,160 has happened to that data and integrity has been breached. 125 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:40,380 Fourth, we have Access Controls. 126 00:04:40,380 --> 00:04:41,670 Now, Access Controls ensure 127 00:04:41,670 --> 00:04:44,070 that only authorized individuals can modify data, 128 00:04:44,070 --> 00:04:45,150 and this reduces the risk 129 00:04:45,150 --> 00:04:47,550 of unintentional or malicious alterations. 130 00:04:47,550 --> 00:04:49,290 By setting up stringent permissions, 131 00:04:49,290 --> 00:04:51,720 organizations can ensure that only authorized individuals 132 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:54,270 have the capability to modify their data. 133 00:04:54,270 --> 00:04:55,620 This not only prevents outsiders 134 00:04:55,620 --> 00:04:57,150 from tampering with the information, 135 00:04:57,150 --> 00:05:00,060 but also restricts internal users to their respective roles 136 00:05:00,060 --> 00:05:02,190 and therefore, significantly reduces the risk 137 00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:05,700 of both unintentional mistakes and malicious alterations. 138 00:05:05,700 --> 00:05:08,520 Now, fifth and finally, we have Regular Audits. 139 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,800 Regular Audits involve systematically reviewing 140 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:12,570 your logs and operations to ensure 141 00:05:12,570 --> 00:05:14,820 that only authorized changes are being made, 142 00:05:14,820 --> 00:05:17,640 and any discrepancies are immediately addressed. 143 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,340 By performing regular audits, we can detect if any changes 144 00:05:20,340 --> 00:05:22,980 to the system or its configurations have been occurring 145 00:05:22,980 --> 00:05:25,770 that might affect our data or system's integrity. 146 00:05:25,770 --> 00:05:29,220 So remember, Integrity ensures our data remains consistent, 147 00:05:29,220 --> 00:05:32,070 accurate and trustworthy throughout its lifecycle. 148 00:05:32,070 --> 00:05:34,230 Methods like Hashing, Digital Signatures, 149 00:05:34,230 --> 00:05:36,930 Checksums, Access Control and Regular Audits, 150 00:05:36,930 --> 00:05:38,940 are really your go-to tools for ensuring 151 00:05:38,940 --> 00:05:41,010 that the information maintains its integrity, 152 00:05:41,010 --> 00:05:43,710 by remaining unaltered from its original format. 153 00:05:43,710 --> 00:05:45,120 It's also important to associate 154 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,220 the terms Integrity and Hashing together, 155 00:05:47,220 --> 00:05:49,560 because Hashing is probably the number one way 156 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,480 that you're going to see the maintenance of Integrity 157 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,820 for all of our data, our software, our systems, 158 00:05:53,820 --> 00:05:56,010 and our networks out in the real world. 159 00:05:56,010 --> 00:05:57,300 In an era where data drives 160 00:05:57,300 --> 00:05:59,070 so many of our business decisions, 161 00:05:59,070 --> 00:06:01,890 maintaining data integrity is not just a good practice, 162 00:06:01,890 --> 00:06:03,660 it's necessary for maintaining trust 163 00:06:03,660 --> 00:06:06,183 and smooth operations within your organization.