In this case study assignment, we will continue to investigate the Fundamental Security Design Principles at work in a real-world scenario. Through the lens of privacy protection, we will analyze the following principles:
The security team at your organization receives an alert from your organization’s cloud storage provider, DataStore. DataStore is a popular cloud-based data hosting service that your organization has contracted with to store public-facing information such as product briefs and advertisements in a “shared” platform with many other customers. Your organization has a policy against transferring confidential data to the cloud and has asked DataStore to alert your security team if they detect unusual data-transfer activities. DataStore noticed that an active connection transferred large numbers of files to their platform and promptly investigated. Upon closer inspection, the DataStore employee recognized that customer names and social security numbers were clearly displayed in the uploaded files.
The security team, with the help of DataStore, discovered that an intern was responsible for the large data transfer. The intern accidentally saved confidential email attachments to a folder on his system that synchronized with DataStore. The intern apologized and stated that he would delete the data from the cloud storage location. However, the problematic files were available for public download for a short period of time.
After reading the scenario above, complete the Fundamental Security Design Principles mapping table in the Case Study Template and answer the short response questions. You’ll notice that the Fundamental Security Design Principles listed differ from those presented in previous activities. In the cybersecurity trade, there are many different design principles and frameworks. Successful practitioners learn to work with many different (but conceptually similar) principles to achieve their security goals.
Specifically, you must address the critical elementslisted below:
Fundamental Security Design Principles Mapping: Fill in the table in the Module Three Case Study Template by completing the following steps for each control recommendation:Specify which Fundamental Security Design Principle applies to the control recommendations by marking the appropriate cells with an X.Indicate which security objective(confidentiality, availability, or integrity) applies best to the control recommendations.Explain your choices in one to two sentences with relevant justifications.Short Response Questions:Is it possible to use Data Store and maintain an isolated environment? Explain your reasoning.How could the organization have more effectively applied the principle of minimizing trust surface with Data Store to protect its confidential data? Explain your reasoning.How can the organization build a more security-aware culture from the top down to prevent mistakes before they happen? Explain your reasoning. CIA Triad and Fundamental Security Design Principles
The terms listed below are essential in the field of cybersecurity and will be a topic of conversation and
application throughout the program. It is therefore important for you to familiarize yourself with these
terms and their definitions.
Note that the CIA triad is sometimes referred to as the tenets of cybersecurity. The Fundamental
Security Design Principles are sometimes called fundamental design principles, cybersecurity first
principles, the cornerstone of cybersecurity, and so on.
CIA Triad
Information that is secure satisfies three main tenets, or properties, of information. If you can ensure
these three tenets, you satisfy the requirements of secure information (Kim & Solomon, 2013).
Confidentiality
Only authorized users can view information (Kim & Solomon, 2013).
Integrity
Only authorized users can change information (Kim & Solomon, 2013).
Availability
Information is accessible by authorized users whenever they request the information (Kim &
Solomon, 2013).
Fundamental Security Design Principles
These principles offer a balance between aspirational (and therefore unobtainable) “perfect security,”
and the pragmatic need to get things done. Although each of the principles can powerfully affect
security, the principles have their full effect only when used in concert and throughout an organization.
These principles are a powerful mental tool for approaching security: one that doesn’t age out of
usefulness or apply only to a few specific technologies and contexts; one that can be used for
architecture, postmortem analysis, operations, and communication. The principles are ultimately only
one piece in the security practitioner’s toolkit, but they are a flexible piece that will serve different roles
for different people (Sons, Russell, & Jackson, 2017).
Abstraction
Removal of clutter. Only the needed information is provided for an object-oriented mentality.
This is a way to allow adversaries to see only a minimal amount of information while securing
other aspects of the model (Tjaden, 2015).
Complete Mediation
All accesses to objects should be checked to ensure that they are allowed (Bishop, 2003).
Encapsulation
The ability to only use a resource as it was designed to be used. This may mean that a piece of
equipment is not being used maliciously or in a way that could be detrimental to the overall
system (Tjaden, 2015).
Fail-Safe Defaults / Fail Secure
The theory that unless a subject is given explicit access to an object, it should be denied access
to that object (Bishop, 2003).
Information Hiding
Users having an interface to interact with the system behind the scenes. The user should not be
worried about the nuts and bolts behind the scenes, only the modes of access presented to
them. This topic is also integrated with object-oriented programming (Tjaden, 2015).
Isolation
Individual processes or tasks running in their own space. This ensures that the processes will
have enough resources to run and will not interfere with other processes running (Tjaden,
2015).
Layering
Having multiple forms of security. This can be from hardware or software, but it involves a series
of checks and balances to make sure the entire system is secured from multiple perspectives
(Tjaden, 2015).
Least Astonishment (Psychological Acceptability)
Security mechanisms should not make the resource more difficult to access than when security
mechanisms were not present (Bishop, 2003).
Least Privilege
The assurance that an entity only has the minimal amount of privileges to perform their duties.
There is no extension of privileges to senior people just because they are senior; if they don’t
need the permissions to perform their normal everyday tasks, then they don’t receive higher
privileges (Tjaden, 2015).
Minimization of Implementation (Least Common Mechanism)
Mechanisms used to access resources should not be shared (Bishop, 2003).
Minimize Trust Surface (Reluctance to Trust)
The ability to reduce the degree to which the user or a component depends on the reliability of
another component (Bishop, 2003).
Modularity
The breaking down of larger tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks. This smaller task may
be reused, and therefore the process can be repurposed time and time again (Tjaden, 2015).
Open Design
The security of a mechanism should not depend on the secrecy of its design or implementation
(Bishop, 2003).
Separation (of Domains)
The division of power within a system. No one part of a system should have complete control
over another part. There should always be a system of checks and balances that leverage the
ability for parts of the system to work together (Tjaden, 2015).
Simplicity (of Design)
The straightforward layout of the product. The ability to reduce the learning curve when
analyzing and understanding the hardware or software involved in the information system
(Tjaden, 2015).
Trust Relationships
A logical connection that is established between directory domains so that the rights and
privileges of users and devices in one domain are shared with the other (PC Magazine, 2018).
Usability
How easy hardware or software is to operate, especially for the first-time user. Considering how
difficult applications and websites can be to navigate through, one would wish that all designers
took usability into greater consideration than they do (PC Magazine, 2018).
References
Bishop, M. (2003). Computer security: Art and science. Boston, MA: Addison-Wesley Professional.
Kim, D., & Solomon, M. G. (2013). Fundamentals of information systems security (2nd ed.). Burlington,
MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
PC Magazine. (2018). Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia
Sons, S., Russell, S., & Jackson, C. (2017). Security from first principles. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media,
Inc.
Tjaden, B. C. (2015). Appendix 1: Cybersecurity first principles. Retrieved from
https://users.cs.jmu.edu/tjadenbc/Bootcamp/0-GenCyber-First-Principles.pdf
CYB 200 Module Three Case Study Template
After reviewing the scenario in the Module Three Case Study Activity Guidelines and Rubric document, fill in the table below by completing the following steps:
1. Specify which Fundamental Security Design Principle applies to the control recommendations by marking the appropriate cells with an X.
2. Indicate which security objective (confidentiality, availability, or integrity) applies best to the control recommendations.
3. Explain your choices in one to two sentences with relevant justifications.
Control
Recommendations
Deploy an automated
tool on network
perimeters that
monitors for
unauthorized transfer of
sensitive information
and blocks such
transfers while alerting
information security
professionals.
Monitor all traffic
leaving the organization
to detect any
unauthorized use.
Use an automated tool,
such as host-based data
loss prevention, to
enforce access controls
to data even when data
is copied off a system.
Isolation
Encapsulation
Complete
Mediation
Minimize
Trust Surface
(Reluctance to
Trust)
Trust
Relationships
Security
Objective
Alignment
(CIA)
Explain Your Choices
(1–2 sentences)
Control
Recommendations
Physically or logically
segregated systems
should be used to
isolate higher-risk
software that is
required for business
operations.
Make sure that only the
resources necessary to
perform daily business
tasks are assigned to
the end users
performing such tasks.
Install application
firewalls on critical
servers to validate all
traffic going in and out
of the server.
Require all remote login
access and remote
workers to authenticate
to the network using
multifactor
authentication.
Restrict cloud storage
access to only the users
authorized to have
access, and include
Isolation
Encapsulation
Complete
Mediation
Minimize
Trust Surface
(Reluctance to
Trust)
Trust
Relationships
Security
Objective
Alignment
(CIA)
Explain Your Choices
(1–2 sentences)
Control
Recommendations
authentication
verification through the
use of multi-factor
authentication.
Make sure all data-inmotion is encrypted.
Set alerts for the
security team when
users log into the
network after normal
business hours, or when
users access areas of
the network that are
unauthorized to them.
Isolation
Encapsulation
Complete
Mediation
Minimize
Trust Surface
(Reluctance to
Trust)
Trust
Relationships
Security
Objective
Alignment
(CIA)
Explain Your Choices
(1–2 sentences)
After you have completed the table above, respond to the following short questions:
1. Is it possible to use DataStore and maintain an isolated environment? Explain your reasoning.
2. How could the organization have more effectively applied the principle of minimizing trust surface with DataStore to protect its confidential data?
Explain your reasoning.
3. How can the organization build a more security-aware culture from the top down to prevent mistakes before they happen? Explain your reasoning.
