Lesson 1:
Assets
Tangible and
Intangible Assets
Tangible assets are the physical assets of an organization,
the assets that can be seen and touched. Examples of tangible assets
include computers, desks, and buildings.
Conversely, intangible assets cannot be readily perceived by
the senses; rather, they are assets that are often called "goodwill"
in the world of accounting and finance. Examples include a company's
marketing strategy, customer records, and financial records.
Why
is it important to make this distinction?
It is important to make this distinction because often, when describing
its assets, an organization will focus solely on tangible assets, overlooking
intangibles such as intellectual property. Even
though intangible assets may not be visible, they are also very valuable.
In fact, some organizations discover that their intangible assets are
just as or more valuable as their tangible assets. For example, although
you can't see a company's reputation, it may be just as important as
the company's product.
As you will later see, much of information assurance and security focuses
on protecting an organization's intangible assets. Let's look at the
three categories of computer and information assets.
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