Introduction

Security patterns are artefacts used within cybersecurity for architecture and design. They represent a defined and re-usable solution to a recurring problem within the cybersecurity domain.

Security patterns can be applied to achieve goals in the area of security. All of the classical design patterns have different instantiations to fulfill some information security goal: such as confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Additionally, one can create a new design pattern to specifically achieve some security goal.

What is a Security Pattern

A security pattern is typically defined by the following characteristics, which include

Written in context of a security problem and how that problem impacts the asset.
Abstracted from specific vendor or technology implementations.
Maintains traceability of prescribed controls to the threats being mitigated.

There are many variations to what represents a security pattern, including definitions of Security Architecture Patterns, Security Design Patterns and Security BluePrints.

Security patterns are typically described in a template format that includes the following information:

Problem: A description of the security problem that the pattern addresses.
Context: A description of the context in which the pattern is applicable and the assets.
Threat Model: Identify the cybersecurity threats and how they may impact the assets.
Solution: A description of the pattern solution, including its components, interactions, and constraints.
Controls: List of controls that are applied to mitigate the threats with examples of how the control is applied for that asset.

Security by Design

Security patterns are often used as part of security by design. They provide a standardized design approach that focuses on understanding the context of a problem rather than just prescribing a list of controls.

The adoption of security patterns has been driven by a number of factors, including:

The increasing complexity of security threats and attacks.
The need to demonstrate traceability to which controls are mitigating which threats.
Auditability within security architecture processes for the selection of controls required to mitigate those identified threats.

Applying a risk-based selection of controls

Regulatory and compliance frameworks have an increasing focus on applying a risk-based approach to implementing security controls. That is, making an assessment of the risks and then making a selection of the appropriate controls.

Why use security patterns?

Security patterns are a way to design, implement, and maintain more secure systems. They provide a common language, a systematic approach, and tested solutions for common security problems.

This helps to improve communication and collaboration between stakeholders and reduces the risk of errors and omissions.

Security architecture patterns can also improve the security quality and performance of systems by providing a structured and rational method for identifying and addressing security issues

Examples

Here are some examples of how security patterns have been adopted:

SecurityPatterns.io provides a catalog of security patterns as guided examples and a tutorial on how to write a security pattern.
Open Security Architecture provides a catalog of security patterns and how they are applied.
The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) provides a catalog of security patterns that are tailored to the specific needs of web applications.
The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) provides a set of cloud security patterns that are designed to help organizations secure their cloud deployments.
The Security Patterns book by Eduardo B. Fernandez provides the design and implementation of security patterns for distributed software architecture.

References

External links

How to Write a Security Pattern
Open Security Architecture
Security Patterns in Practice: Designing Secure Architectures Using Software Patterns. Released May 2013, Publisher(s): Wiley, ISBN: 9781119998945
The Open Group Security Pattern Guide