Question 13

Accidental modification of a customer account demonstrates a violation of the integrity component of the CIA triad.

Integrity in the CIA triad refers to the accuracy and trustworthiness of data. When an employee accidentally modifies a customer account incorrectly, it compromises the integrity of that data, leading to potential errors in customer information and impacting trust.

A) A company stores sensitive customer data without access controls.

This scenario primarily pertains to confidentiality rather than integrity. While lack of access controls can lead to unauthorized access, it does not directly affect the accuracy or correctness of the stored data itself.

B) A network's domain name system server has not been fully operational for one month.

This situation relates more to availability than integrity. While downtime can affect the usability of services, it does not inherently alter or compromise the accuracy of the data stored within the system.

C) An employee accidentally modified a customer account incorrectly.

This scenario specifically illustrates a violation of integrity, as the unauthorized change to the customer account disrupts the accuracy and reliability of the information. It shows a direct impact on the correctness of data, which is the core concern of integrity.

D) A company has an unacceptably high network downtime during high-traffic time periods.

This option addresses availability issues, as high downtime affects the ability of users to access services. However, it does not involve the accuracy or integrity of the data itself.

Conclusion

The correct answer, C, directly highlights a breach of data integrity through accidental modification. Options A, B, and D focus on confidentiality and availability issues, which do not pertain to the accuracy of data. Therefore, C is the only choice that exemplifies the violation of the integrity component of the CIA triad.