An information asset is any organization-owned data, metadata, logs, records, or knowledge base that has value because it supports operations, decisions, or services. In cyber security, it is treated like a business asset: it can be protected, classified, monitored, lost, stolen, altered, or abused.
This matters because attackers often target the asset, not just the system. Exfiltration, tampering, ransomware, and insider misuse can damage the integrity and availability of information assets, while poor governance can leave sensitive records exposed or unreliable. Defenders map these assets to understand what needs protection, who owns it, how long it is kept, and what controls apply. In AI programs, the information asset includes the training data, labels, metadata, and provenance records that determine whether outputs are trustworthy. If that asset is incomplete, stale, or manipulated, the model may still run, but its results can mislead users and weaken business decisions.