What is Information?

In here we’ll try to answer a complicated question, and we’ll try to cover as many aspects as possible that could be about what is information within organization. In simple terms Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. However as time goes by, information, specially in terms of security as term becomes wider and wider. If hundreds years ago information were limited to stories told to each or a few pages or rare books than today Information is a collection of data or knowledge that is organized, processed, and communicated in a meaningful way. It is used to represent, convey or interpret facts, ideas, or instructions. Information can be presented in various forms, such as text, images, audio, or video, and can be transmitted through different media, including books, newspapers, television, radio, and the internet.

Where Information Can Be Found and Stored?

Information can be found within many forms and placement for any given business. it could be stored within the physical space of an office to the inside of any office machine or even in external 3rd service providers like Email or cloud services.

offline documents – printed documents, physical letters, written notes, news papers, books and more.

online documents – online services, cloud stored data, 3rd party services, databases and more.

Examples Of Company Information

Printing on paper and send via fax – inside the fax there could be a small storage memory that can contain company sensitive information.

• Cloud Data Storage – 3rd party services that store our business company information.
• Employee using disk on key to save company documents (to share with customers).
• Employee sending information to their personal phone “to read” later (even with good intention cases like those exists).
• Spoke in meetup/convention/presentation – during an event information told and spoke by employee can leak.
• Email Storage – emails send and received between employees to clients.
• Contracts & documents – written, printed or digital stored in 3rd party SaaS.

How Information can be Lost?

information and company data can be lost or compromised through various means, exposing businesses to significant risks, including financial losses, reputational damage, and legal liabilities. Cyberattacks, such as phishing, ransomware, and data breaches, are common threats that exploit vulnerabilities in a company’s IT infrastructure, leading to unauthorized access and potential data loss. Insider threats, where employees or other trusted individuals intentionally or accidentally disclose sensitive information or compromise systems, also pose a significant risk. Additionally, physical theft or damage to storage devices and hardware can result in data loss. Inadequate security measures, such as weak passwords, outdated software, and insufficient access controls, can further exacerbate these risks. As businesses become increasingly reliant on digital technology and store more sensitive data electronically, the importance of implementing robust cybersecurity measures to protect against data loss and maintain information integrity cannot be overstated.

Common Type of Information

Customer list – things like user list, customer list, email list, contact information.
Transaction list – can be but not limited to sales, invoice.
Marketing data – could be list of possible leads, future sales, promotion data, client data.
Legal data – contracts, agreements, loans, accounts documents.
Code data – specially for software companies.
Patents – document related to valuable registered patents.
Logs – any change in system, updates, change logs and tracking of events within or outside of the business.

Those are few examples of data and information that need to be secured and protected(with Information Security Management) for the safety of your customers and avoidance of information loss or information leak.