Secure-by-Design and Secure-by-Default Principles

Published On - June 28, 2024

Seven Step Consulting Blog

Secure-by-Design

Secure-by-design refers to integrating security features and considerations into the design phase of a system, application, or infrastructure. This proactive approach ensures that security is a foundational aspect of the development process rather than an afterthought. By embedding security at the design stage, organizations can identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities before they become significant issues.

 Key Elements of Secure-by-Design

  1. Threat Modelling: Identifying and evaluating potential threats and vulnerabilities in the design phase. For example, during the development of a web application, a team might use threat modelling to foresee and plan for SQL injection attacks.
  2. Security Requirements: Defining and incorporating security requirements into the project from the outset. For instance, a mobile app might require end-to-end encryption for all data transmissions as part of its initial design.
  3. Secure Coding Practices: Adopting best practices for secure coding to minimize vulnerabilities. An example is input validation to prevent injection attacks and buffer overflows.
  4. Security Testing: Implementing robust security testing procedures, such as static code analysis, dynamic analysis, and penetration testing, throughout the development lifecycle. For instance, continuous integration (CI) pipelines might include automated security testing tools to catch vulnerabilities early.

 Examples of Secure-by-Design

  • Microsoft’s SDL (Security Development Lifecycle): Microsoft incorporates security practices into every phase of software development, ensuring products like Windows and Office are designed with security in mind.
  • Google’s Android Platform: Android employs secure-by-design principles by using a multi-layered security approach, including sandboxing applications and using secure inter-process communication.

 Secure-by-Default

Secure-by-default means that systems, applications, or devices are configured in the most secure settings out-of-the-box. This approach ensures that the default state of a system minimizes the risk of security breaches and that users do not need to configure security settings manually to achieve a basic level of protection.

 Key Elements of Secure-by-Default

  1. Default Configurations: Ensuring that default settings are secure, such as disabling unnecessary services and ports. For instance, a new server installation might come with a firewall enabled and only essential services running.
  2. Minimal Privileges: Implementing the principle of least privilege by default. For example, user accounts on a new operating system installation might have limited permissions, requiring administrative elevation for critical tasks.
  3. Automated Updates: Enabling automatic security updates to ensure that systems remain protected against known vulnerabilities. For instance, modern web browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox automatically update to the latest secure versions.
  4. Default Encryption: Ensuring that data is encrypted by default, both at rest and in transit. For example, new installations of databases might have encryption enabled by default for all stored data.

 Examples of Secure-by-Default

  • Apple’s iOS: iOS devices are designed to be secure out-of-the-box, with features like encrypted communications, restricted app permissions, and a default lockdown mode for unauthorized access attempts.
  • Modern Web Browsers: Browsers like Chrome and Firefox come with security features enabled by default, such as HTTPS enforcement, blocking of mixed content, and phishing protection.

 Real-World Incident Examples

  1. SolarWinds Attack: The SolarWinds supply chain attack exposed the need for secure-by-design principles. By integrating security considerations into their development processes, organizations can better protect against such sophisticated threats.
  2. Equifax Data Breach: The Equifax breach highlighted the importance of secure-by-default configurations. Failure to apply timely security updates to a known vulnerability (Apache Struts) led to a massive data breach. Automated updates and secure configurations by default could have mitigated this risk.

 Conclusion

Adopting secure-by-design and secure-by-default principles is crucial for enhancing the security posture of systems and applications. Secure-by-design ensures that security is embedded from the start, while secure-by-default ensures that systems are protected out-of-the-box. Together, these approaches help mitigate risks and protect against evolving cyber threats.