3.5 Security View
Purpose
Section titled “Purpose”The Security View describes how the solution protects against threats, manages identity and access, and safeguards data. It addresses the concerns of security architects, the CISO office, compliance teams, and auditors.
3.5.1 Security Overview & Threat Model
Section titled “3.5.1 Security Overview & Threat Model”Security Context
Section titled “Security Context”| Question | Response | |----------|----------| | Does the solution support regulated activities? | Yes / No - [details] | | Is the solution SaaS or third-party hosted? | Yes / No - [details] | | Has a third-party risk assessment been completed? | Yes / No - [reference] |
Business Impact Assessment
Section titled “Business Impact Assessment”| Impact Category | Business Impact if Compromised | |----------------|-------------------------------| | Confidentiality | [impact of unauthorised data access] | | Integrity | [impact of unauthorised data modification] | | Availability | [impact of service unavailability] | | Non-Repudiation | [impact if actions can be denied] |
Guidance
Rate each category as Critical / High / Medium / Low / Negligible. The highest rating drives the security requirements for the solution — a system with Critical confidentiality needs stronger encryption and access controls than one rated Low. Use your organisation’s data classification policy to inform these ratings.
Threat Model
Section titled “Threat Model”Document the key threats and how the design addresses them:
| Threat | Attack Vector | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | |--------|-------------|-----------|--------|------------| | [threat] | [how] | H / M / L | H / M / L | [design controls] |
3.5.2 Identity & Access Management
Section titled “3.5.2 Identity & Access Management”Authentication Model
Section titled “Authentication Model”Internal Users
Section titled “Internal Users”| Access Type | Role(s) | Destination(s) | Authentication Method | Credential Protection | |------------|---------|----------------|----------------------|----------------------| | End Users | [roles] | [servers/apps] | [SSO/SAML/OIDC/etc.] | [method] | | IT Operations | [roles] | [servers/apps] | [method] | [method] | | Service Accounts | [scope] | [servers/apps] | [method] | [method] |
External Users (if applicable)
Section titled “External Users (if applicable)”| Access Type | Role(s) | Destination(s) | Authentication Method | Credential Protection | |------------|---------|----------------|----------------------|----------------------| | External Users | [roles] | [servers/apps] | [method] | [method] | | External Applications | [scope] | [servers/apps] | [method] | [method] |
Guidance
Document every authentication path into the solution. Prefer federated identity (SSO, OIDC, SAML — see glossary for definitions) over local credentials. Consider:
- Internal users — should use the organisation’s identity provider (e.g., Entra ID, Okta)
- External users — may need a separate identity provider or customer-facing auth (e.g., OAuth 2.0)
- Service accounts — prefer managed identity or workload identity over shared secrets
- API consumers — document whether mutual TLS (mTLS), API keys, or OAuth client credentials are used
Authentication Details
Section titled “Authentication Details”For each authentication method identified above, document the detailed configuration:
Recommended| Control | Response | |---------|----------| | Does the application use SSO or group-wide authentication? | […] | | What is the unique identifier for user accounts? | […] | | What is the authentication flow? | [describe or diagram] | | How are credentials issued to users? | […] | | What are the credential complexity rules? | […] | | What are the credential rotation rules? | […] | | What are the account lockout rules? | […] | | How can users reset forgotten credentials? | […] |
Session Management
Section titled “Session Management”Session management controls prevent session hijacking and ensure users are re-authenticated appropriately.
Document how authenticated sessions are maintained and protected:
Recommended| Control | Response | |---------|----------| | How are sessions established after authentication? | [tokens, cookies, etc.] | | How are session tokens protected against misuse? | [signing, encryption, etc.] | | What are the session timeout and concurrency limits? | […] |
Authorisation Model
Section titled “Authorisation Model”Document how access rights are assigned and controlled after authentication:
Minimum| Access Type | Role / Scope | Entitlement Store | Provisioning Process | |------------|-------------|-------------------|---------------------| | Business Users | [roles and scope] | [where entitlements stored] | [how provisioned] | | Technology Users | [roles and scope] | [where entitlements stored] | [how provisioned] | | Service Accounts | [roles and scope] | [where entitlements stored] | [how provisioned] |
Authorisation Details
Section titled “Authorisation Details”| Control | Response | |---------|----------| | Account re-certification process | […] | | Segregation of duties controls | […] | | Delegated authorisation capabilities | […] |
Privileged Access
Section titled “Privileged Access”| Account Type | Management Approach | |-------------|-------------------| | OS privileged accounts (root/admin) | [how managed, rotated, audited] | | Infrastructure / platform admin | [how managed] | | Application admin | [how managed] |
Guidance
Privileged access is a primary attack vector. Document how privileged accounts are:
- Controlled — who can request access, what approval is needed
- Time-limited — prefer just-in-time (JIT) access over standing privileges
- Audited — session recording, command logging, periodic review
- Break-glass — emergency access process with post-incident review
3.5.3 Network Security & Perimeter Protection
Section titled “3.5.3 Network Security & Perimeter Protection”Describe network segmentation, firewalls, and perimeter controls. Cross-reference Section 3.3.3 (Network Topology) for the underlying infrastructure.
| Control | Implementation | |---------|---------------| | Network segmentation | [firewalls, security groups, NSGs] | | Ingress filtering | [WAF, DDoS, rate limiting] | | Egress filtering | [proxy, gateway, allowlists] | | Encryption in transit | [TLS versions, certificate management] |
3.5.4 Data Protection
Section titled “3.5.4 Data Protection”Cross-reference Section 3.4 (Data View) for the full data architecture. Document the security controls applied to the solution.
Encryption at rest and secret management protect sensitive data from exposure if storage or infrastructure is compromised.
Encryption at Rest
Section titled “Encryption at Rest”Encryption protects data from unauthorised access even if storage media is compromised.
| Attribute | Detail | |-----------|--------| | Encryption deployment level | Storage / Logical Container / Application | | Key type | Symmetric / Asymmetric | | Algorithm / cipher / key length | […] | | Key generation method | [HSM / software / other] | | Key storage | [HSM / KMS / other] | | Key rotation schedule | […] |
Secret & Password Protection
Section titled “Secret & Password Protection”| Attribute | Detail | |-----------|--------| | Secret store | [e.g., HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault] | | Secret distribution | Distributed at deployment / Retrieved on-demand | | Secret protection on host | Local vault / File system / Memory only / Not stored | | Secret rotation | Automatic / Manual / Not rotated |
3.5.5 Security Monitoring & Threat Detection
Section titled “3.5.5 Security Monitoring & Threat Detection”| Capability | Implementation | |-----------|---------------| | Security event logging | [what events, where stored] | | SIEM integration | [tool and integration method] | | Infrastructure event detection | [how monitored] | | Security alerting | [how alerts are generated and routed] |
[Insert security monitoring architecture diagram if applicable]
Scoring Guidance
| Score | What This Looks Like | |:-----:|---------------------| | 1 | Authentication method identified but controls not detailed | | 3 | Business impact assessed, authentication and authorisation documented, encryption at rest and in transit specified | | 5 | All of the above plus threat model complete, secrets management documented, security monitoring integrated with SIEM, privileged access controlled with JIT |
Quality Attribute Cross-References:
- 4.1 Operational Excellence - Security monitoring is part of operational observability
- 4.2 Reliability - Security incidents affect availability