What Is Cybersecurity?

Young adult in a neon-lit city holds a phone while glowing data trails and padlock icons illustrate the need for mobile security.

The Basics: What Are We Protecting and Why?

Using a phone feels simple, yet each tap leaves data behind. A thief can swipe that data and cause chaos. Cybersecurity keeps your digital life private and safe.

Why Cybersecurity Exists

You text, shop, and bank online every day. Each action creates information an attacker might grab. A strong lock on your front door feels routine—online protection should feel just as normal.

Parent supervises a child online while a bakery worker secures a tablet, showing that home and small business both need digital safeguards.

Parents guard children’s browsing to block strangers. A bakery shields recipes and payment data. Automated attacks look for easy wins, not famous targets, so simple defenses matter.

Three glowing crystals labeled C, I, A float above a dawn landscape, linked by golden threads to symbolize the CIA triad.

The Big Three: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability

The CIA triad captures cybersecurity’s core goals—Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality means keeping secrets. A password or encryption hides texts and bank info from prying eyes. Break this layer and leaks or blackmail follow.

Transparent envelope with documents intact blends paper cut-outs and code, illustrating unaltered information.

Integrity

Integrity keeps data accurate. Digital signatures or hashes reveal sneaky changes. If someone edits a payment address, the envelope seal has failed.

Server rack flickers with neon glitch effects, signaling a system struggling to stay online.

Availability

Availability ensures tools work when needed. Ransomware or denial-of-service knocks services offline. Like a power outage, everything stops until you restore access.

Balancing confidentiality, integrity, and availability keeps data private, correct, and reachable.

Security officer inspects icons of photos, passwords, and shields, made from bright pointillist dots that highlight different assets.

Assets, Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Risks—What’s the Difference?

An asset is anything valuable—photos, money, or reputation. A threat can harm it: hacker, virus, or power cut. A vulnerability is a weakness, like a weak password. Risk is the chance a threat uses that weakness to hurt the asset.

Person locks a laptop with a glowing padlock, showing how stronger passwords lower the chance of intrusion.

Imagine a laptop with an easy password. A stranger guesses it. Because the password is weak, the risk of stolen photos or email is high. Strengthen the password or add two-factor login to shrink that risk—even though threats remain.

Online safety mirrors daily life. You lock your bike because theft happens. You guard your data for the same reason—protect what matters, where it matters most.

Why Your Online Safety Matters More Than You Think