Secure Design Principles

Abstract

While the previous chapter was concerned with high-level approaches and trade-offs in security, this chapter will focus on security design principles. When building a house, there are certain very specific things that a builder will do: roofing shingles are laid so that the higher shingles overlap the lower ones. Flashing is placed over the top of newly installed windows. These specific practices protect the house from water damage, and they flow from a single, general principle: that water needs to run off of a house in waterfall fashion. Similarly, while there are many specific security practices, they flow from a small set of well-accepted principles. Understanding the fundamental principles puts you in the best position to implement specific practices where needed in your own projects.