Integrity in information security is primarily concerned with what aspect?

Integrity in information security refers to the accuracy and consistency of data over its entire lifecycle. It focuses on ensuring that information is not altered or tampered with by unauthorized individuals. Therefore, the primary concern of integrity is protection from unauthorized modification of data. This means that measures must be in place to prevent individuals or processes from making unauthorized changes that could compromise the reliability and trustworthiness of the information.

Integrity is a fundamental principle of cybersecurity because it ensures that data remains valid and uncorrupted, which directly impacts decision-making and operations dependent on that information. Strategies to maintain integrity often include the use of checksums, hashing algorithms, and access control measures that restrict who can alter the data.

The other options pertain to different aspects of information security. Ensuring data availability focuses on guaranteeing that information and resources are accessible when needed. Encrypting sensitive information is primarily concerned with confidentiality, protecting data from being read or disclosed to unauthorized users. Facilitating data sharing involves making information readily available to authorized users, which can be a function of both integrity and availability but is not directly tied to the concept of maintaining the original state of data.