Cyber security is a critical issue in today’s technological age. Cyber breaches can cost organizations as much as EUR3.3million on average ( IBM), and 33% of those costs will last for as long as two years.
Security architecture can help reduce cyber-attack risk and protect assets from digital harm. What is security architecture? And what benefits can your company get by investing in it?
What is Security Architecture?
Although security architecture can have many different definitions, it is ultimately a collection of security principles, methods, and models that align with your goals and help protect your organization from cyber threats. Security architecture is the translation of business requirements into executable security requirements.
Are you new to security architecture? It is easy to understand by comparing it to regular architecture. The job of an architect of homes, schools, and office blocks is similar to that of a security architect. The architect examines the property and takes into consideration client preference, topography, climate, and other factors. Finally, they create a blueprint to achieve the desired outcome. such as builders and contractors. The architect will then direct the construction of the building to meet the objectives.
Look at the Elements in Security Architecture
Security architecture can be defined in many ways, as we have already mentioned. Because every organization is unique, each security architecture framework must meet its own needs. Despite this, there are many similarities in the methods used by architects.
Purpose
Most security architectures have the same purpose: to protect an organization from cyber damage. To achieve this goal, architects may often attempt to live in your company for a time to learn about you and your employees. They will speak to your leaders and employees to learn about your business goals, your requirements for your systems, and other important factors.
They can then create a plan and provide guidance that aligns with your business objectives and your cyber security risk appetite.
Frameworks
Just as property architects work within guidelines, security architects also need to follow them. These are often referred to simply as “frameworks”.
What is the security architecture framework? Although it can encompass many different things, it is generally a set of guidelines and principles that will help you implement security architecture at all levels of your business. There are many international standards that address different problems.
Some companies may also create their own frameworks, using best practices that are based on the three most popular security architecture frameworks in the world: SABSA and TOGAF. We can combine standards to offer a flexible service that takes advantage of the best advice from all. This allows us to create, implement, and measure highly customized security solutions and requirements.
Common Security Architecture Frameworks
- TOGAF. The Open Group Architecture Framework (or TOGAF) helps businesses identify the problems they want to solve through security architecture. It addresses the initial phases of security architecture. The scope and goals of an organization are set out. This framework also identifies the problems that a business wants to solve through this process. It does not provide specific guidance about how to address security problems.
- SABSA. Sherwood Applied Business Security Architecture (or SABSA Framework) is a policy-driven framework that helps to define key questions for security architecture, such as who, what, and when. Its purpose is to ensure that security services are delivered, supported, and designed as part of an enterprise’s IT management. Although it is often called a “security architecture method”, it doesn’t go into details about technical implementation.
- OSA.: OSA is Open Security Architecture. This framework is related to functionality as well as technical security controls. It provides a complete overview of the key security issues, components, concepts, and security architecture principles that underlie architectural decisions when designing security architectures. It can only be used in the enterprise security architecture that has been designed.
What is the Benefit of Security Architecture?
1. A strong security architecture can help with fewer breaches
Businesses today need a strong cyber security architecture framework to protect their most valuable information assets. You can dramatically reduce the chance of an attacker successfully breaching your systems by strengthening your security architecture and closing any weaknesses.
Security architecture has the ability to translate the unique needs of each organization into executable strategies that create a safe environment for all employees. It is aligned with business requirements and current security standards.
These measures can also be used to show trustworthiness to potential partners. This could help them position their business ahead of their competitors.
This will result in an architecture that provides long-term benefits to the organization.
2. Proactive security measures can save money
Security vulnerabilities can be costly. It can cause production to stop, require a thorough investigation, and could lead to product recalls or embarrassment at press conferences.
This is because the earlier an error is discovered in product development, the more it can cost.
This means that if an error is detected during development, it could cost more to fix it than 500%. Detecting the same error in production or post-release can result in a cost increase of up to 3,000%.
It is possible to reduce the chances of an error occurring by integrating security into product development at every stage. The security context is established from the initial ideation phase. New tools and processes are installed as part of the security architecture process to reduce the chance of errors at every stage.
3. It may be able to reduce disciplinary measures in the beach incident.
Although there are many laws that govern cyber security breaches around the world, one thing is common: the better a company tries to minimize its risk and mitigate vulnerabilities, the better the outcome in the event of an attack. Regulators have demonstrated that they are open to organizations trying their best, and will punish those that fail to do so.
Important is the fact that regulations are becoming more stringent. Nobody had ever heard of the GDPR before 2016, and they certainly weren’t required to follow its guidelines. It guides much of Europe’s digital landscape.
Technology is catching up with the legislative landscape, which means there will be tighter rules for businesses in the future.
Establishing a solid security architecture and integrating security into development cycles. Using tools and processes that detect errors to detect them. These are vital steps for an organization to demonstrate that it is doing its best to protect itself from cyber threats and adhere to all applicable regulations.
What are the key deliveries of security architectures
What do you get from security architecture in terms of deliverables? It all depends on the architect, business, used frameworks, and many other variables. The deliverables that you get will ultimately be determined by your objectives.
Specific frameworks are discussed. Each security architecture model can be used at different stages of security architecture. Therefore, one framework won’t cover all. Below is a list of common deliverables that can be obtained from different frameworks.
TOGAF EXAMPLES
- Definition of business principles and goals, as well as drivers.
- Security architecture roadmaps, or in other words, a set of work packages that will help to define the target security architecture. They will also show progress from the current state to the desired state within the agreed timeframes.
- Security architecture building blocks. A building block is a collection of functionality that meets the business needs of an organization.
- Description of security architecture requirements. This gives a quantitative view of the solution and identifies the criteria that must be met in order to implement it.
SABSA EXAMPLES
- The heart of SABSA is the business attribute model. The business attribute model abstracts real-life business requirements and provides guidelines and definitions for a range of business attributes.
- A clearly defined security strategy that is mapped to control objectives or business attributes.
- Security policy architecture This covers security and domain policies an organization should follow and is compliant with the most recent security standards and regulatory bodies.
- Definition of security services. These services should be based upon security policies, business strategies, and control objectives.
OSA EXAMPLES
- Technical security controls and functionality. These are the definitions of technical security controls like access controls, system hardening, security scanners, and so on.
- Software integrity protection A taxonomy for software integrity protection techniques
Security architecture provider offers a service that brings together deliverables from all the frameworks based on your requirements to ensure you get a well-designed outcome at all stages of security architecture.
How long will the Security Architecture Take?
This question is not easy to answer. While a simple roadmap can be developed in weeks, a thorough and comprehensive business evaluation may take several months. The actual transformation process will depend on the size of the business and its scope.
Summary: Security architecture is highly dependent upon your goals, the size, and the budget of your business, as well as other factors such as your current state, your budget, and similar factors.
Last Line
Although you can apply some of the cyber security architecture lessons right away, a specialist will be needed to guide you through the entire process, from start to finish. This will ensure that you achieve the best security and risk reduction. We know that this can be a daunting task, especially for larger and more complex organizations.
