Integrity
- Integrity
- the
security
quality subfactor
representing the degree to which the malicious corruption
(e.g., via unauthorized creation, modification, or deletion)
of valuable assets is properly handled
The typical objectives of integrity are to:
- Ensure that security properly addresses the malicious harm that can be
caused by malicious corruption of valuable assets
- Model the degree to which malicious corruption is:
- Prevented
- Detected
- Reacted to
- Adapted to
- Support the analysis and specification of
integrity requirements
Integrity can be classified into the following quality subfactors:
The following guidelines have been found to be useful
regarding integrity:
- Integrity is about more than preventing unauthorized corruption. It also includes:
- Detection in a timely manner when corruption occurs.
- Reaction in an appropriate and timely manner when corruption is detected.
- Adaptation to avoid future corruption.
- Do not restrict integrity to communications
or the protection of systems against malware such
as viruses (immunity). Stored data can be corrupted,
hardware can be corrupted (e.g., to overcome hardware encryption),
and software can be corrupted by its developers with logic bombs and trap doors.
And finally, personnel can be compromised (e.g., by blackmail or extortion).