Data States

  • Data at Rest
    • This is your stored data, sitting inactive in storage devices.
    • Examples: Files on hard drives, records in databases, emails in your inbox
    • Primary concern: Preventing unauthorized access and ensuring data availability
  • Data in Transit aka. Data in Motion
    • Data moving across any network, internal or external, wired or wireless.
    • Examples: Sending emails, browsing websites, transferring files
    • Primary concern: Protecting data from interception and manipulation
  • Data in Use
    • Data being processed in memory or temporary storage buffers, while an application is using it
    • Examples: Data in RAM, CPU cache, or currently open files
    • Primary concern: Protecting data during active processing and computation

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Relevant Note(s): Information Security

Footnotes

  1. https://destcert.com/resources/data-states/