When working with any type of network or information one of the fundamental components that needs to be addressed is that of integrity. The integrity of data is essential as the receiver of a piece of information needs to have confidence that what they are receiving and relying on is faithful to the intent of the creator and sender of that data. If the integrity, and therefore confidence, in data is lost then data becomes essentially worthless.
If you have been in security long enough you have undoubtedly run into the well-known CIA triad, which is shorthand for Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Simply put, the confidentiality refers to keeping information safe from unauthorized access or disclosure. Availability refers to the practice of keeping access to systems and data constant or near constant as possible (typically this is discussed in terms of uptime...