Drivers for the information security solution pattern include:

• Data needs to be accessible by different parts of the system but should not be easily viewable by potential intruders.
• Encryption and decryption are comparatively slow and expensive (in resource terms) and so should be avoided unless necessary.
• Much data is non-sensitive in nature and does not need protecting.
• The level of encryption used should be weighed against the likelihood of unauthorized access to the data.