What are Information Security Controls?
Modern organizations rely extensively on data centers and software systems to store and process valuable data. This is a boon to efficient operations, but those IT assets are also tempting targets for malicious actors. As a result, the need for robust information security controls has never been greater.
Information security controls are vital to mitigate security risks and to protect the integrity, confidentiality, and availability (also known as the CIA triad) of your IT assets. They are an essential component of effective information security management.
These controls encompass a wide range of measures designed to safeguard information systems and ensure the secure handling of data. Organizations can address potential vulnerabilities by implementing appropriate controls and establishing a robust defense against malware and social engineering attacks.
This article will explore the range of information security controls a CISO might use and how to assemble the right ones for your needs.
What Is Information Security?
“Information security” is a broad term for how companies protect their IT assets from unauthorized access, security breaches, data destruction, and other security threats. Information security includes a variety of strategies, procedures, and controls that safeguard data across your security posture. Some key elements of information security are infrastructure security, web application security, cloud security, disaster recovery, and cryptography.
Principles of Information Security
Information security (or “infosec”) principles provide a foundation for designing, implementing, and maintaining effective security measures to protect information assets. The three objectives of information security are:
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is about assuring that sensitive data and information are only accessible to authorized individuals or entities. It involves protecting data from unauthorized disclosure, data breaches, or leaks.
Cybersecurity measures such as access controls, encryption, and secure network configurations help enforce confidentiality. Regular audits and assessments help identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with confidentiality requirements.
Integrity
Integrity ensures that data remains accurate, complete, and unaltered throughout its lifecycle. This principle focuses on preventing unauthorized modification, deletion, or data tampering. Network security measures, data backups, and secure storage help mitigate the risk of data corruption or unauthorized modifications.
Regular audits and risk management processes help to identify and address integrity vulnerabilities. Application security measures, such as secure coding practices and regular software updates, also contribute to maintaining data integrity.
Availability
Availability assures that information is accessible by authorized users when needed. It protects against disruptions, system failures, and unauthorized denial of service attacks.
Risk management practices, redundancy in infrastructure, backup and recovery solutions, and network security measures contribute to ensuring availability. Information technology and security teams are crucial in maintaining system availability, monitoring potential threats, and responding to incidents promptly.
What Are the Information Security Controls (and How They Work)
Information security controls play an indispensable role in safeguarding valuable information assets, assuring the CIA triad we mentioned above. In addition, they help to manage and mitigate security risks, including those posed by malware and other potential threats.
We can group information security controls into a few broad categories.
- Access controls restrict access to information and information systems based on user privileges, authentication mechanisms like passwords, and authorization rules.
- Encryption transforms information into an unreadable format unless you have the decryption key, assuring the information remains protected even if unauthorized access occurs. It involves the use of cryptographic algorithms and keys.
- Firewalls control the flow of incoming and outgoing network traffic using a predetermined set of rules.
- Intrusion detection and prevention systems monitor network traffic and system activities to detect and stop unauthorized access or malicious activities. They can generate alerts or take actions to block or mitigate threats.
- Malware protection controls include antivirus software, anti-malware solutions, and other technologies. They detect, prevent, and remove malicious software (malware) such as viruses, worms, and Trojans.
- Secure configuration controls harden operating systems, applications, and devices by disabling unnecessary services and removing default passwords.
- Security incident and event management solutions collect and analyze log data from various sources to identify and respond to security incidents, detect anomalies in real-time IT environments, and support forensic investigations.
- Secure coding practices emphasize the importance of writing secure code to minimize vulnerabilities and prevent common coding errors that attackers could exploit.
Why Is Information Security Important?
Information security is crucial for organizations and individuals for five reasons.
- Protection Against Unauthorized Access
Information security is essential to prevent unauthorized individuals or entities from accessing sensitive or confidential information. Hackers and cybercriminals employ phishing, ransomware, or exploiting vulnerabilities in computer systems to gain unauthorized access.
Implementing robust security measures, such as strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and other access controls helps mitigate the risk of unauthorized access. - Compliance with Regulations and Legal Requirements
Many industries, such as healthcare and banking, have specific legal requirements for protecting personal data and other types of information.
Organizations must ensure that they have appropriate information security policies to comply with these regulations, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). - Safeguarding Intellectual Property
Intellectual property, including trade secrets, patents, and proprietary information, is valuable for organizations. So, information security is crucial in protecting intellectual property from unauthorized access or theft.
Cybercriminals may target organizations to steal intellectual property, which can result in financial losses and competitive disadvantages. Measures such as encryption, the principle of least privilege (POLP), secure networks, and restricted access help safeguard intellectual property. - Preserving Customer Trust and Loyalty
Information security is closely tied to maintaining customer trust and loyalty. Customers expect organizations to handle their sensitive information carefully and protect it from unauthorized access.
Breaches or data loss incidents can compromise personal data, resulting in financial loss, identity theft, or other harm to individuals. By prioritizing information security, organizations demonstrate their commitment to safeguarding customer information, which helps build and maintain trust and loyalty. - Business Continuity and Resilience
Information security is vital in ensuring business continuity. A breach or cyber-attack can disrupt operations, lead to data loss, and cause financial and reputational damage.
Implementing robust security measures, conducting regular backups, and establishing incident response plans can help mitigate the impact of cyber threats and ensure business operations.
Best Practices for Implementing Security Controls
1. Start With Threat Modeling, Not Product Features
Before deploying any control, perform threat modeling to understand where your organization is most vulnerable. This defines your control objectives. Risk assessment and attack path analysis should guide your decisions.
Use frameworks like STRIDE or MITRE ATT&CK to map threats to the specific tactics and techniques attackers might use. Then align each control to an attacker’s likely path.
2. Automate Secure Configuration From Day 1
Security debt builds fast. Use configuration management tools and templates (e.g., Terraform, Ansible, Chef) to enforce baseline controls for every cloud workload, VM, or app deployment. Automate rollback of drift using continuous compliance tools.
Pair this with patch management automation across endpoints, containers, and libraries. The longer a known vulnerability stays unpatched, the higher your risk window, and attackers know it.
3. Enforce Identity and Access With Precision
Access control should go far beyond basic role-based access control. Implement access management policies based on lowerst privilege and just-in-time access. Zero standing privileges (ZSP) for admins, with session recording, MFA, and context-based approvals, drastically reduce insider risk and privilege escalation. Zero-trust architecture principles reinforce this, especially when extended to devices, locations, and apps.
4. Operationalize Your Incident Response
A control is only as good as your response when it fails. Every control should tie to an IT security and incident response plan. Define triggers for automated responses (e.g., isolate endpoint, revoke credentials), escalation paths, and recovery timelines. Regular tabletop exercises and purple team engagements ensure that IR isn’t theoretical.
Assessment and Management of Security Controls
1. Prioritize Context-Driven Security Controls Assessment
Too often control assessments ask, “Does this control exist?” A better question is: “Is this control working in our environment?”
Start with a real-world risk assessment. Map out your critical assets, evaluate your threat landscape, and pinpoint which compliance standards apply. Then examine each control in context. A firewall rule might tick a compliance box, but is it tuned to the specific threats you’re actually facing?
Use tools like security ratings platforms and peer benchmarking to understand how your controls compare to industry norms.
2. Shift From Static to Continuous Monitoring
Today’s infrastructure changes hourly, which creates a need for controls to be tested more frequently.
This means building real-time visibility across your identity stack, infrastructure, sensitive data, and third-party dependencies. You’ll want anomaly detection that can spot behavioral drift in logs, automated validation for access policies, and alerting for any misconfigurations as they happen. The good news is that many modern tools now combine SIEM, log management, and automated playbooks, enabling faster, intelligence-driven responses
3. Reduce the Attack Surface Proactively
You can’t protect what you don’t know about. That’s the central idea behind attack surface management (ASM). These tools help you map all your publicly exposed assets, both known and unknown.
But the better systems don’t just discover—they enrich. They add metadata like asset owner, risk score, or known misconfigs so you can prioritize fixes. Some even integrate with your IaC or configuration tools, so it’s easier to enforce hardened baselines by default. Less exposure means fewer entry points, which means fewer surprises.
4. Make Third-Party Risk Part of the Same Process
If your third-party SaaS tool has access to sensitive data, its controls matter just as much as your own. Incorporate third-party risk checks into your regular control review process. That includes reviewing their SOC 2 or ISO 27001 reports, running them through a SIG questionnaire, and checking breach history. Ideally, you’re also scanning shared environments and APIs for vulnerabilities and confirming their controls don’t create gaps in your own.
Security Control Frameworks and Standards
Trying to choose the right security framework? Here’s what you need to know.
CIS Controls are great if you’re just getting started or overhauling a messy program. They’re clear, practical, and help teams move fast. Even small orgs can act on them without spinning up a massive project plan. Think of them as your security fundamentals, without the policy bloat.
NIST CSF works best when you need to explain security to leadership. Its structure—Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover—maps nicely to business risk. You’ll still need to plug in more detailed controls underneath, but as a top-layer strategy tool, it’s unmatched for internal storytelling and stakeholder buy-in.
NIST SP 800-53 is the heavy-duty option. It’s complex, yes. But if you’re working in federal or highly regulated spaces, you’re probably already knee-deep in it. It’s the “source of truth” many orgs quietly rely on while presenting a friendlier face through CSF or ISO in public reporting.
ISO/IEC 27001 makes sense when you’re expanding internationally, facing client due diligence, or want a certifiable framework. It’s about systematizing governance and showing maturity. If privacy is also on the line, ISO 27701 adds the pieces you’ll need for regulations like GDPR.
COBIT comes into play when security, audit, and IT operations are all tangled together—common in SaaS, MSPs, or financial services. It’s built to satisfy auditors and align security activities with business controls. Many companies pair it with SOC 1/SOC 2 reporting to meet client expectations.
That said, not every framework is flexible. Some are mandatory, sector-specific, and enforced:
- HIPAA: For anyone handling electronic protected health information (ePHI). It includes technical controls and safeguards like access control, audit trails, and encryption.
- PCI DSS: Designed for organizations that process credit card payments. Expect strict rules on network segmentation, cardholder data encryption, and continuous monitoring.
- SOC 2: Common in the U.S. for service providers and SaaS companies. It’s less prescriptive than HIPAA or PCI but evaluates your controls across trust principles like Security, Availability, and Confidentiality. Clients often ask for a SOC 2 report before signing contracts.
- NIS 2 (EU): The updated EU cybersecurity directive now mandates minimum control baselines for critical sectors, plus includes real enforcement. If you’re operating in the EU, you’ll need a mapped compliance roadmap here.
Take Control of Information Security with ZenGRC
In the current relentless battle against cyber threats, your organization’s security requires a solid and advanced platform that empowers it to fortify its information security defenses effectively.
This is precisely where the ZenGRC emerges as an ally. With its cutting-edge capabilities and features, ZenGRC provides a comprehensive suite of functionalities to enhance and reinforce information security.Schedule a demo today and see how ROAR gives you a unified and real-time view of your security risks.
