Information Security Industry: State of the Art

Abstract

The processing of information by natural and legal persons by means of technologies and systems can generate risks. When these risks are linked to the availability, integrity, confidentiality and authenticity of information, we are dealing with security risks.

As defined by ENISA, ICT security is “the capacity of networks or information systems to resist unlawful or malicious accidents or actions that compromise the availability, authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of stored or transferred data with a certain level of confidence, as well as the services that are offered and made accessible by these networks”.

The fast growth of the use of technological information systems has exponentially increased society’s dependence on them, which means the level of exposure to security risks on the part of citizens, public and private organisations — large, medium or small — and critical information infrastructures that comply with their interaction is high.

The scenario of insecurity, which has been making its way into the use of the internet, — and which the great minds of the ICT sector were not able, or willing, to anticipate at the time by offering products and services with an appropriate level of quality in their characteristics and security, because they focused on basic provisions, such as speed and capacity — increased its criticality with people betting on distributed computing.