Which statement defines Confidentiality?

• A. Ensuring data is not altered.
• B. Ensuring data is only accessible to authorized users.
• C. Ensuring systems are available.
• D. Verifying identity of a user or system.

Answer: (B)

Confidentiality means keeping information secret from anyone who isn’t authorized to see it. It’s about preventing disclosure by making sure data is accessible only to those with permission, often through access controls, authentication, and encryption.

The other ideas map to different security goals: not being altered points to integrity, ensuring systems are available points to availability, and verifying identity is a mechanism (authentication) that supports confidentiality but isn’t the definition itself. So the statement that data is only accessible to authorized users best defines confidentiality.