Which CIA triad property ensures data integrity by preventing modification without authorization?

• A. Availability
• B. Integrity
• C. Confidentiality
• D. Authentication

Answer: (B)

Integrity is the property that ensures information remains correct and unaltered by anyone who isn’t authorized to change it. Preventing modifications without permission is the essence of integrity because any unauthorized change would undermine the trustworthiness of the data. To protect integrity, you put in place controls like strict access rights, audit logs to detect changes, and cryptographic measures such as hashes or digital signatures that verify data hasn’t been tampered with. The other properties address different concerns: confidentiality focuses on keeping data private, availability ensures data is accessible when needed, and authentication verifies the identity of users or systems, not whether the data has been altered.