ELI5: What is the DAD Triad?
The DAD Triad is what bad guys try to do: peek at your secrets (disclosure), change your homework answers (alteration), or destroy your project so you can’t use it (destruction). It’s the opposite of keeping things safe.
Definition
The DAD Triad (Disclosure, Alteration, Destruction) represents the three ways an attacker can undermine information security, directly opposing the CIA Triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability). Disclosure attacks compromise confidentiality; Alteration attacks compromise integrity; Destruction attacks compromise availability. Understanding DAD helps frame attacker goals and the controls needed to counter them.
Key Details
- Disclosure ↔ attacks on Confidentiality: Eavesdropping, data breaches, unauthorized access to sensitive data.
- Alteration ↔ attacks on Integrity: Data tampering, unauthorized modification, SQL injection modifying records.
- Destruction ↔ attacks on Availability: DoS/DDoS attacks, ransomware, hardware destruction, data deletion.
- Framing threats as DAD helps with risk analysis: identify which CIA pillar a threat impacts, then apply appropriate controls.
- A single attack can affect multiple DAD elements (e.g., ransomware = Destruction; double extortion also = Disclosure).
Connections
- Parent: cia-triad — the inverse of the CIA Triad
- See also: confidentiality, integrity, availability