Which of the following correctly pairs each CIA triad component with a concrete control?

• A. Confidentiality—encryption and access controls; Integrity—hashing and digital signatures; Availability—backups and redundancy
• B. Confidentiality—firewalls; Integrity—firewalls; Availability—redundant power supply
• C. Confidentiality—physical security; Integrity—air-gapping; Availability—cloud storage
• D. Confidentiality—antivirus; Integrity—password policies; Availability—spam filters

Answer: (A)

Focusing on how each CIA triad component is most effectively protected by concrete controls clarifies the correct pairing. For confidentiality, encryption protects data as it moves or rests, and access controls ensure only authorized users can read it. For integrity, hashing helps detect any unauthorized changes to data, and digital signatures verify that data comes from a trusted source and remains unaltered. For availability, backups provide a way to recover data after loss, and redundancy keeps systems running even if part of the infrastructure fails. The combination of these controls—encryption and access controls for confidentiality, hashing and digital signatures for integrity, and backups and redundancy for availability—fits each component best. Other options mix controls that don’t map as cleanly to the three protections, such as relying primarily on network firewalls, isolation measures, or antivirus and filters, which address related concerns but don’t align as directly with all three CIA facets.