1. Contrast: The term "information security" distinguishes itself from "physical security". Key point: A common model used to describe security is the OSI/ISO/IEC 10181 standard. It breaks down infosec into the following areas: authentication Where people have to prove who they are. access control Where people are allowed to access computers or files. non-repudiation Making sure that both sides of a transaction cannot later deny the transaction took place. (antonym: repudiation/renounce/reject) confidentiality Prevent unauthorized disclosure of information. (antonym: disclosure) integrity Making sure that things cannot be corrupted. (antonym: corruption, tampering). audits and alarms Track what is happening. availability (antonym: Denial-of-Service) accountability Making sure that people can be held responsible for their actions. (antonym: anonymity). This includes finding out who violated security policies, as well as simple things as charging departments for their use of network resources. Key point: The most common threats are: disclosure Information was leaked to an unauthorized person. integrity violation Data was altered, such as an account balance that was changed. masquerading/forgery Somebody pretends to be somebody else, or generates a message pretending to be from somebody else. denial-of-service insider attacks From people you trust. backdoors/trojans Key point: The fields of infosec and hacking are not necessarily related. This is a little confusing. Infosec is the field of assuring that information is secure. Hacking is the field of breaking rules. For example, following infosec best practices, you can validate that a server is secure, data is encrypted, and that only authenticated users can gain access. However, a hacker executing a buffer overflow exploit gains access bypassing all the security measures. Contrast: The military has a number of terms related to INFOSEC. They include: COMSEC - communications security Describes the procedures designed to secure communications from the enemy. The antonym is COMINT. From Hacking-Lexicon