CIA stands for what?

• A. Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability.
• B. Confidentiality, Integrity, Accessibility.
• C. Coordination, Integrity, Availability.
• D. Control, Integrity, Authorization.

Answer: (A)

The CIA triad—the three cornerstone security objectives—governs how we think about protecting information: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Confidentiality means only authorized people can access information, supported by access controls and encryption. Integrity keeps information accurate and unmodified, safeguarded by checks, hashes, and change controls. Availability ensures that information and systems are accessible to those who need them, with redundancy, backups, and robust incident response.

The correct choice matches this standard trio exactly. The other options replace or alter one term: Accessibility is not the standard term used for Availability, Coordination shifts the focus away from the three core objectives, and Control and Authorization refer to related concepts but don’t form the recognized triad.