Asset

In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value and that is held to have positive economic value is considered an asset. Simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash (although cash itself is also considered an asset).

The balance sheet of a firm records the monetary value of the assets owned by the firm. It is money and other valuables belonging to an individual or business. Two major asset classes are tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets. Current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment.

Intangible assets are nonphysical resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the market place. Examples of intangible assets are goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, and financial assets, including such items as accounts receivable, bonds and stocks.

Asset (disambiguation)

An asset is an economic resource, or something of value.

ASSET or Asset may also refer to:

Business

Economics

Intelligence

Military

Space

Computing

Entertainment

Asset (computer security)

In information security, computer security and network security an Asset is any data, device, or other component of the environment that supports information-related activities. Assets generally include hardware (e.g. servers and switches), software (e.g. mission critical applications and support systems) and confidential information. Assets should be protected from illicit access, use, disclosure, alteration, destruction, and/or theft, resulting in loss to the organization.

The CIA Triad

The goal of Information Security is to ensure the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of assets from various threats. For example, a hacker might attack a system in order to steal credit card numbers by exploiting a vulnerability. Information Security experts must assess the likely impact of an attack and employ appropriate countermeasures. In this case they might put up a firewall and encrypt their credit card numbers.

Risk analysis

When performing risk analysis it is important to weigh how much to spend protecting each asset against the cost of losing the asset. It is also important to take into account the chance of each loss occurring. Intangible costs must also be factored in. If a hacker makes a copy of all a company's credit card numbers it does not cost them anything directly but the loss in fines and reputation can be enormous.

Renewable resource

A renewable resource is an organic natural resource which can replenish to overcome usage and consumption, either through biological reproduction or other naturally reoccurring processes. Renewable resources are a part of Earth's natural environment and the largest components of its ecosphere. A positive life cycle assessment is a key indicator of a resource's sustainability.

Definitions of renewable resources may also include agricultural production, as in sustainable agriculture and to an extent water resources. In 1962 Paul Alfred Weiss defined Renewable Resources as: "The total range of living organisms providing man with food, fibres, drugs, etc...". Another type of renewable resources is renewable energy resources. Common sources of renewable energy include solar, geothermal and wind power, which are all categorised as renewable resources.

Food and water

Water resources

Water can be considered a renewablematerial when carefully controlled usage, treatment, and release are followed. If not, it would become a non-renewable resource at that location. For example, groundwater is usually removed from an aquifer at a rate much greater than its very slow natural recharge, and so groundwater is considered non-renewable. Removal of water from the pore spaces may cause permanent compaction (subsidence) that cannot be renewed. 97.5% of the water on the Earth is salt water, and 3% is fresh water; slightly over two thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps. The remaining unfrozen freshwater is found mainly as groundwater, with only a small fraction (0.008%) present above ground or in the air.