This could be something like another computer picking up someone's credit card number during what was supposed to be a secure transaction, or an employee of a company giving out a person's confidential information over the phone to someone who is not authorized to receive it. However it happens, confidentiality breaches are serious, and must be addressed immediately so they do not happen again (Allen 2001). Integrity of information assures that information can not be modified without such modification being detected. Most information management systems have some sort of protocol in place for protecting the integrity of information. The greatest danger to the integrity of information occurs when it is in transit from one computer to another. This is the perfect time for hackers to access the information and modify it without being detected. A secure information management system ensures that this is unlikely to happen and that any modifications can be detected easily in most cases, usually as soon as they occur, and the breach mended. The most secure businesses ensure than any breach of integrity is a highly remote possibility, unlikely to occur at all.

Finally, availability of information is also important. The information being stored must be secure, but it must also be accessible when it is needed. Security protocols used to protect the information must be functioning correctly, but so must the communication channels (passwords and encryption and such) used to gain access to it. The information systems that store the information must be protected from power outages, system upgrade interruptions,...

There should never be a time when information is needed and it is not able to be easily retrieved by someone with the proper authorizations (Layton 2007).
These are all important considerations for today's companies. Most businesses that deal with consumers maintain some sort of database of information on those consumers. How sensitive that data is depends on the type of business, and what the business is able to do with that data and who is allowed to have access to it depends on the industry and federal law regarding information privacy. There are certain expectations that all businesses dealing in personal, private information on individuals must adhere to and these businesses must make sure their information management systems are up to the task of protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information on its consumers. Federal law regarding the protection of this information must also be known and followed at all times. These are the regulations we must conform to in today's information age.

References

Allen, Julia H. (2001). The CERT Guide to System and Network Security Practices. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Layton, Timothy P. (2007). Information Security: Design, Implementation, Measurement, and Compliance. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications.

McNab, Chris (2004). Network Security Assessment. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.