Practical Cybersecurity Architecture: A guide to creating and implementing robust designs for cybersecurity architects

✍ Scribed by Ed Moyle, Diana Kelley

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2020
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 418
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Plan and design robust security architectures to secure your organization's technology landscape and the applications you develop

Key Features

• Leverage practical use cases to successfully architect complex security structures
• Learn risk assessment methodologies for the cloud, networks, and connected devices
• Understand cybersecurity architecture to implement effective solutions in medium-to-large enterprises

Book Description

Cybersecurity architects work with others to develop a comprehensive understanding of the business' requirements. They work with stakeholders to plan designs that are implementable, goal-based, and in keeping with the governance strategy of the organization.

With this book, you'll explore the fundamentals of cybersecurity architecture: addressing and mitigating risks, designing secure solutions, and communicating with others about security designs. The book outlines strategies that will help you work with execution teams to make your vision a concrete reality, along with covering ways to keep designs relevant over time through ongoing monitoring, maintenance, and continuous improvement. As you progress, you'll also learn about recognized frameworks for building robust designs as well as strategies that you can adopt to create your own designs.

By the end of this book, you will have the skills you need to be able to architect solutions with robust security components for your organization, whether they are infrastructure solutions, application solutions, or others.

What you will learn

• Explore ways to create your own architectures and analyze those from others
• Understand strategies for creating architectures for environments and applications
• Discover approaches to documentation using repeatable approaches and tools
• Delve into communication techniques for designs, goals, and requirements
• Focus on implementation strategies for designs that help reduce risk
• Become well-versed with methods to apply architectural discipline to your organization

Who this book is for

If you are involved in the process of implementing, planning, operating, or maintaining cybersecurity in an organization, then this security book is for you. This includes security practitioners, technology governance practitioners, systems auditors, and software developers invested in keeping their organizations secure. If you're new to cybersecurity architecture, the book takes you through the process step by step; for those who already work in the field and have some experience, the book presents strategies and techniques that will help them develop their skills further.

Table of Contents

1. What is Cybersecurity Architecture?
2. The Core of Solution Building
3. Building an Architecture – Scope and Requirements
4. Building an Architecture – Your Toolbox
5. Building an Architecture – Developing Enterprise Blueprints
6. Building an Architecture – Application Blueprints
7. Execution – Applying Architecture Models
8. Execution – Future- Proofing
9. Putting It All Together

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title page
Copyright and Credits
About Packt
Contributors
Table of Contents
Preface
Section 1:Security Architecture
Chapter 1: What is Cybersecurity Architecture?
Understanding the need for cybersecurity
What is cybersecurity architecture?
Network versus application security architecture
The role of the architect
Secure network architectures
Secure application architectures
Architecture, security standards, and frameworks
Architecture frameworks
Security guidance and standards
Security architecture frameworks
Architecture roles and processes
Roles
Process overview
Key tasks and milestones
Summary
Chapter 2: The Core of Solution Building
Terminology
Understanding solution building
Establishing the context for designs
Understanding goals
Identifying business goals
Dimensions of success
Structures and documents
Policies, procedures, and standards
Applying to architectural frameworks
Risk management and compliance
Risk management and appetite
Compliance
Establishing a guiding process
Understanding the business high-level goals
Understanding the technology goals
Drawing implied goals from existing documentation
Capturing (or defining) risk tolerances
Accounting for compliance requirements
Summary
Section 2: Building an Architecture
Chapter 3: Building an Architecture – Scope and Requirements
Understanding scope
What's in this chapter?
Setting architectural scope
Enterprise security architecture
Application security architecture
Defining scope boundaries
Scope – enterprise security
Existing capability
Risk management
Strategic planning
Scope – application security
The development and release process
Components, services, and design patterns
Team/organizational boundaries
Technology considerations
The process for setting scope
Consider high-level goals
Review contextual or other constraints
Set the initial scope
Validate and refine the initial scope
Summary
Chapter 4: Building an Architecture – Your Toolbox
Introduction to the architect's toolbox
Planning tools
Analytical tools
Informational tools
Modeling and design tools
Building blocks of secure design
Information security policies
Organization of information security
Human resources security
Asset management
Access control
Cryptography
Physical and environmental security
Operations security
Communications security
System acquisition, development, and maintenance
Supplier relationships
Information security incident management
Information security aspects of business continuity management
Compliance
Summary
Chapter 5: Building an Architecture – Developing Enterprise Blueprints
Requirements
Blueprints
Process
Why ADM?
The vision
Establishing architectural principles
Set Scope
Desired future (target) state
Creating a program
Discovery, identification, and validation
Documenting your high-level approach
Creating the roadmap
Architecture definition
Accompanying documentation
Summary
Chapter 6: Building an Architecture – Application Blueprints
Application design considerations
Life cycle models
Environment
Considerations for Waterfall projects
Requirements phase
Design phase
Implementation phase
Verification phase
Maintenance phase
Considerations for Agile projects
Conception phase
Inception phase
Construction phase
Release phase
Production phase
Retirement phase
Considerations for DevOps projects
Develop
Build
Unit test
Deploy (integrate)
Quality assurance
Production
Validate
Process for application security design
Systems security engineering
Architecture definition process
Architecture definition
Documentation
Validation
Modifying the SDLC and development processes
Summary
Section 3:Execution
Chapter 7: Execution – Applying Architecture Models
Process steps
Technical design
What specific product do we buy to do this?
Where do we place VPN concentrators or access points?
What client software do users require?
Creating technical implementation strategies
Assess constraints, synergies, and areas of opportunity
Validating against likely threat paths and creating a skeleton solution document
Validating implementation strategies
Finalizing the documentation
Operational integration
Changing context and evolution
Execution monitoring
Telemetry
Selecting strategic metrics
Selecting operational metrics
Summary
Chapter 8: Execution – Future-Proofing
Overcoming obstacles in project execution
Scope and requirements
Support failure and organizational issues
Resource shortfalls
Communication failure
Technical and environmental issues
Future-proofing designs
Establishing a 'virtuous cycle'
Monitoring our own environment for changes
Monitoring for external changes
Summary
Chapter 9: Putting It All Together
Virtuous cycles
Adapting architectural processes
Tips and tricks
Hone your ability to listen
Cultivate empathy
Have just enough process
When in doubt, over-communicate
Be ready to walk away
Gotchas
Be aware of (but don't play) politics
Don't shirk the preparation
Stay engaged until the end
Use a multi-disciplinary approach
Summary
Other Books You May Enjoy
Index