For us, security by design has three main components, which are:
- Authorization; the process of implementing roles based on what users primarily need for their daily operations, nothing more nothing less
- Network security; secure communications over virtual private networks; and
- auditing; the ability to track user actions and continuously monitor sessions and/or mutations to comply with the authorization polices
I’m going to tell you about all three more in-depth.
Authorization is managing the process to make sure people get only access to resources and data which are applicable for them. For us, we use fine authorization policies for several roles like operator activities, operator lead activities and remote support activities. In our line of work, proper authorization is important because we work with a lot of sensitive or confidential data
Next, we have Network Security.
We make use of segmentation in the network infrastructure so we classify different kinds of data and make sure that this data is only available in the proper applications.
To have safe and secure remote connectivity we make use of a VPN connection stands for virtual private network, it serves as a way to securely communicate between two networks. See it as a tunnel which is used to drive cars (network packets) back and forward. All the traffic within this tunnel is encrypted at the entrance (Network A) and decrypted at the exit (Network B). VPNs are important because confidently and integrity is increased when applying e.g. using a third-party network like the internet. All network traffic generated by VISICS which is communicating over a third-party network is ensured by VPN.
And lastly, we have auditing.
Auditing is the process of continuously monitoring mutations, actions, login attempts etc. to check if these are valid and comply with security policies. This is important to ensure to keep security standards high and adapt when necessary.
Together, Authorization, Network security and auditing make up the three main components of our “security by design” – design by Niels van Kooten.
