Technical information: definition, types, requirements and protection

What is technical information, and how is innovation related to it? This question should be answered based on knowledge of scientific progress. Technology is a collection of knowledge about creating tools, processing actions, and extracting materials. The term is wide enough, and everyone can understand its meaning in its own way. People use technology to perform various tasks in our daily lives. You can describe the processes taking place in this segment, products, as a result of activities created to simplify our daily lives. People use technology and information related to them to expand our capabilities, making people the most important part of any production system.

Technology as the basis for the transfer of information

Technology is also the application of science used to solve problems. But it is very important to know that this field and science are different topics that work hand in hand to solve specific problems or problems:

1. We apply technology in almost everything we do in our daily lives.
2. We use it at work.
3. We use them for communications, transportation, training, production, data provision, business scaling, and much more.

This is human knowledge, which includes tools, materials, systems and technical means of information processing. The application of innovation usually leads to products. If it is used correctly, it benefits people, if it is used for malicious reasons, then harm.

Many companies use technical media to stay competitive. They create new products and services using the latest developments, and also use them to deliver these products and services to their customers on budget. Mobile phones are a good example. Mobile Empires use high-tech media to create new smartphones and other electronic devices to stay competitive. This competitive advantage is achieved through the use of advanced technologies, where information on knowledge and innovations plays a special role.

Technology for promoting information on market demand networks

The technology is dynamic; it continues to improve because our needs and requirements for them continue to change. Mankind has passed from the industrial era (industrial revolution) to the era of information. In the industrial age, companies with large amounts of capital were able to use expensive technological tools to gain a competitive advantage. Small businesses have less potential because they cannot afford the costly innovations in manufacturing or processing. However, the development of this market segment has created a new economic environment that depends on information, and this is what is called the “information age”. The age of the data provides a different working environment, and this has helped small businesses take up positions in highly competitive markets.

People use technological processes to carry out various tasks, therefore they are delivered in different forms. Listed below are some of the different types of technologies that humanity uses daily:

1. Communication. This is a system that uses technical means of transmitting information or data from one place to another or from one person to another. Communication is a daily necessity for everyone; it is used to convey ideas, exchange information and express emotions. People use communication analogs such as telephones, computers, emails, fax or messaging tools to stay in touch with friends and family. Enterprises use technical means of information processing to facilitate the flow of data in the workplace, to assist in decision making, to serve the needs and demands of customers, to promote new products or services for target consumers, and much more.
2. Auxiliary. They have become more popular recently. People with disabilities use technical means of obtaining information and supporting innovations to perform specific tasks that are difficult or impossible to accomplish without involving them. The term "auxiliary" means helping or giving an extra hand. The auxiliary version of the “new features” is used in many ways: in schools, it is used to help children with autism learn better; in other cases, to help people with disabilities move. In addition, with the use of speech recognition applications, those who are unable to print are able to use a computer and much more. Thanks to improvement, we have many assistive technologies. They help many to carry out tasks after receiving technical information, which otherwise could be considered impossible.
3. Medical. This is a type of innovation that is used to expand and improve people's lives. Technical Information Medical Center helps to obtain data and information about the condition of patients, skills and opportunities for introducing innovative treatment. Developed countries have benefited from the application of medical knowledge in their health systems. Medical equipment is used to diagnose infections, treat and research diseases, etc.

Information technology is a set of hardware and software used to store, transmit and process information. Without them, it is already impossible to do in our standard of living. Database tools, hardware and information systems help provide the right people with the right and accurate data at the right time. This is an opportunity to get ahead of time thanks to new generation devices. Employees in the organization use information technology to perform various tasks.

Information transfer as positive, negative and zero result

When you acquire one skill, does this ability help or harm its ability to learn other skills? For example, a guitar playing skill may help you learn how to play the violin, but it probably will not affect your ability to study geography. This lesson focuses on the transmission of information, including positive, negative and zero carrying, as well as the difference between the transmission of data at frequencies of different levels.

Have you ever learned to play a musical instrument? Imagine you took guitar lessons when you were a kid. If you have learned to play it, and now you want to learn and master another musical instrument, do you think that your abilities can cause you discomfort or, conversely, help? When previous knowledge helps or impairs your ability to learn something new, this is called knowledge transfer.

A technical information system is how the skills or knowledge that people have learned on one topic influence their study of disciplines in another area. Sometimes data transfer can help people quickly navigate new areas, such as mathematics, when the discipline in high school is understandable, provided that you study in elementary school. Nothing is built just like that, more precisely, if you know the basics, then you can build the whole system of knowledge. The same thing happens with the movement of information and its data or products through systems and communication channels. However, in other cases, the technical processing of information may harm awareness.

The information transfer system was divided into three main types, which include positive, negative and zero transmission:

1. Positive transmission is when knowledge or skills help to master a new vision of the situation. Here it is worth turning to history and recalling alphabetic data transmission systems.
2. The collection of technical information in the second half of the last twentieth century was so developed that to this day nothing new is being created. This is noted as a negative effect, where nothing happened based on recent data. Something is transformed, but not created, like radio or satellite communications.
3. In the 19th century, every 5–40 years, new data transmission systems were created - from written to satellite. This is a zero effect, when in a short time on the basis of insignificant information they created something more convenient and modern.

But state technical information has become more secure thanks to the latest technologies mentioned above. They are introduced at the regional level. It is worth noting that the media (as a way of communicating with people on the planet), technical connections and information help countries exchange scientific data and discoveries among themselves. At the highest level, some information becomes secret, which is marked with a “top secret” icon. But in order to understand the requirements for the technical protection of information, it is first necessary to understand what is this secret "clearing of science" from the point of view of innovative purpose.

What is technical documentation, and to whom is it declassified?

Information products that, according to the compiler, are useful outside their places of origin (intended for publication or distribution), in any format or medium, contain the results and technological innovations obtained after research and development (R&D) and scientific and technical work of scientists, researchers and engineers, be it a federal employee, contractor, or recipient of financial assistance. Subject to these nuances, we can talk about the phased implementation of data in different segments of the population. This is the technical documentation. It conveys the results of demonstration and commercial applications, as well as experiments, observation, modeling, research and analysis.

Scientific results, like technical information, are transmitted through various media, for example, text, multimedia, audiovisual and digital, and are issued in a number of products, such as:

• technical reports, conferences and presentations;
• abstracts and dissertations;
• scientific and technical computer software;
• journal articles;
• workshop reports;
• patents;
• publicly available research kits or others.

The Cybersecurity Information Analysis Center has been tasked with actively collecting data related to security and information protection. This is necessary for data exchange with the Ministry of Defense and other federal agencies, their contractors, and the scientific community. The storage and processing program monitors the technical channels of information leakage, which sometimes fail. Although attacks on computer data have intensified recently, one cannot speak with confidence about the complete protection of classified information.

All submitted documents are placed in a permanent and secure repository. The library facilitates the exchange of knowledge between different groups and organizations. Scientists have separate access as part of the classification and secondary distribution instructions. The Technical Information Center always carries out checks on the consistency of information in new and old publications, which, as mentioned above, have become the basis for the development of information and the creation of something new for humanity.

Using technical documentation for secret work

Technical documentation in the field of software development is a general term that covers all written documents and materials related to the development and use of a software product. All software development products created by a small group or large corporation require appropriate documentation. And various types of technical means of obtaining information or documents are created throughout the life cycle of software development. There is documentation that allows you to:

• Explain product functionality
• unify information related to projects;
• provide an opportunity to discuss all the important issues that arise between stakeholders and developers.

In addition, errors in documentation can lead to a gap between the visions of stakeholders and engineers, and as a result, the proposed solution will not meet the expectations of stakeholders. Therefore, managers should pay great attention to the quality of documentation, and authorized persons should pay attention to secrecy and integrity, since the same technical channels for information leakage can become very negative in the form of undesirable consequences.

The types of documentation that the team produces and its volume depend on the approach chosen to software development. Particular attention should be paid to this, since only with the help of technology can data be stored in the 21st century on electronic (letter) media. There are two main ways: “flexible” and “waterfall”. Each of them is unique in terms of supporting documentation.

Waterfall methodology for data safety

“Waterfall” is a linear method with clear objectives at every stage of development. Teams that use it spend a minimum of time planning a product in the early stages of a project. They create an extensive overview of the main goals and objectives and plan what the workflow will look like. Developers strive to create detailed documentation before any design stage begins. Careful planning works well for projects with minor changes in the process, because it allows you to accurately determine budgets and time estimates. However, planning for such a system proved to be ineffective for long-term development, since it does not take into account possible changes and unforeseen circumstances on the go.

A flexible approach is based on:

• teamwork;
• close collaboration with customers and stakeholders;
• flexibility and ability to respond quickly to changes.

The main building blocks of agile development are iterations; each of them includes planning, analysis, design, development and testing. The agile method does not require complete documentation at the beginning. Managers do not need to plan the use of technical types of information in advance, because everything can change as the project develops. Today, flexibility is the most common practice in software development, so let's focus on the knowledge associated with this method.

Security systems against data leakage

Protecting company information resources (data) from leaks is the most important problem of information security actions. In any type of activity, each company has a certain set of data that are the basis of the company for existence. This data and the flow of documents are a company’s trade secret and, of course, require leakage protection and disclosure. The threats of data loss are divided into two areas:

• external (malware, hacker attacks, etc.);
• internal threats (insiders).

Effective information protection requires an integrated approach. The successful creation of a security system requires analysis and audit of the company's security.

The hardware and software systems designed to combat data leakage are collectively called the “DLP Systems” (Data Leakage Prevention). Such means of protecting information through technical channels from leakage are usually the most complex systems that monitor and monitor changes in documents and the movement of classified information. Unfortunately, systems cannot provide guarantees, and their installation and implementation are associated with huge costs of the client company. The value of information and the real risks of its loss are not always such serious financial expenses.

Ways to protect data from any leak

Any business running multiple cloud applications is at high risk of exposure through data leakage. Here are five ways to protect data and ensure security this year:

1. Definition of critical data.First, enterprises must understand how to identify their critical data. This means being able to classify which data needs the most protection and how to use data loss prevention (DLP) software to protect any sensitive information. Depending on the industry, these may be financial reports, plans or strategy reviews. Since the region relies heavily on the proper classification of information, organizations should update the data protection strategy, primarily focused on sensitive documents and their processing.
2. Monitoring access and activity. The next step in preventing data leakage is to carefully monitor traffic on all networks. The ability to automatically detect, map, and track what is deployed throughout your business infrastructure enables you to see your network in real time. Since the average hacker conducts reconnaissance on the network for six months before the actual violation of the system, enterprises need to identify abnormal behavior before the violation occurs. Monitoring tools control access and activity, notifying administrators when an employee downloads, copies, or deletes information.
3. Use encryption. Although encryption is not impervious, it remains one of the best ways to protect data. Carefully implemented encryption and key management make stolen data unreadable and useless. Enterprises must incorporate a multi-level security system through proactively controlled and managed encrypted networks.
4. Network blocking. Being able to block your network should be the main focus of prevention efforts. With the growth of mobile technologies, data leakage also needs a technical information protection system. While many employees are aware of the steps that need to be taken to protect sensitive data, some simply do not recognize their practice as unsafe.
5. Endpoint Protection. Since data is also stolen through exit points into the IT infrastructure, enterprises can more effectively manage data loss risks by choosing solutions that control and operate at these exit points. This allows the IT specialist to determine technical information leaks, what confidential information goes away and when or through which specific channel or device.

In addition to fundamental data protection steps, such as network firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, secure web gateways, and endpoint protection, a more effective threat response begins with advanced security monitoring, as mentioned earlier. The use of effective security technologies offered by the center of scientific and technical information, as well as the implementation of best practices can significantly help prevent data leakage.

Information Theft

Not only media can steal information or valuable documents. The human voice (speech apparatus) can also be the cause of data loss. Technical information leaks in this case are microphones and various recording devices that recognize the frequencies of the voice wave. They can also be used as sound recorders that simply recognize voice. However, if engineering information can be stolen in the form of digital data, then secret speech information, especially those used to enter passwords, cannot always be recorded.

Since a person’s voice never sends the same waveform twice, even if the same word or phrase is repeated, the voice recording will not be converted to a single password. Instead, the new system uses various mathematical functions to generate hundreds of alphanumeric strings:

1. For user authentication, the system compares all lines with those that are in the file from the initial registration; if enough of them match, the user is recognized.
2. The system also adds randomness to generation - this is what is called a random emission of computer solutions, unique to every smartphone or other device. This is for alphanumeric strings to provide an extra layer of security.

The method of maintaining confidentiality is effective in terms of computing power, so it can be used with most smartphones. Also, technical means of secretly obtaining information have begun to be used, which are able to recognize the voice and speech of someone who records videos on the Internet, speaks by phone, etc.

Modern means of protection

Firstly, it is worthwhile to understand that data leakage occurs in 80% of cases due to personnel faults. This includes not only errors of ignorance, but also technical aspects. For example:

1. The employee did not restrict access to information of a particular group of employees, and they received secret information.
2. There is no agreement on non-disclosure of trade secrets. In other words, if a cancer drug is created, and its formula is known, you need to urgently create a patent for your invention or development by publishing the announcement. Otherwise, the theft of valuable data will not be an oversight or a coincidence.
3. Deny access to computers that contain confidential information.
4. Accidental infection of the system with viruses - this can be done on purpose or by accident. Of course, there is no guarantee of inadvertance, but it’s better to protect you and install antivirus programs.

If you know that the database contains information that is not subject to general distribution and is not open to public use, you should take care of security. It is also not recommended to set passwords that can be transferred to employees. As a last resort, access is provided by a unique code that is issued personally to each subordinate. A leak can also occur through the fault of authorized access to third parties authorized to conduct data checks with organizations and investigative authorities. Of course, in any situation, the protective data should be constantly changed so that it does not become vulnerable. Then no information will leak out of the walls of the company.