The Three States of Data
Learn how information is saved, moving, and being used. Follow a real business scenario, identify security risks, and choose the correct methods to protect information.
Before You Begin
Your Role and Company
Toronto Business Solutions Inc.
Your role: Junior Cybersecurity Analyst
Sarah works in the HR department of a company with 30 employees. She prepares a monthly salary report with private employee information, including names, salaries, and bank accounts. She saves the report on her laptop, sends it to her manager, and the manager uploads it to cloud storage.
Your job is to identify the state of the information at each step and recommend ways to protect it.
Follow the Data
Choose the correct data state for each situation.
Find the Security Problems
During your investigation, you discover four problems.
Task B — Analyze the Problems (16 Marks)
For each problem, answer these questions:
- What state of data is mainly involved?
- What is the security risk?
- What security method would you recommend?
- How does your method help protect the information?
Use this worksheet. Select the best answer in each column.
| Problem | Data State | Security Risk | Recommended Method | How It Helps |
|---|
Choose the Correct Security Method
Task C — Match the Method to the Situation (8 Marks)
Choose from:
BitLocker · File Permissions · HTTPS/TLS · Screen Lock · MFA · Secure Backup · Endpoint Security · Secure Wi-Fi
You Are the Cybersecurity Analyst
Your manager asks you to recommend security controls.
“We need to protect salary information when it is saved, sent, and opened. Which security methods should we use?”— IT Manager
Check Your Understanding
Choose the example that matches each definition.
Grade and Submit
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