Security Architecture Assessment is the process of evaluating how strong, effective, and resilient an organization’s current security architecture is against potential threats.
The goal of this assessment is to:
What is Included in an Assessment?
Security Design Patterns are proven, reusable solutions to common security problems in system and application design.
Instead of designing security from scratch every time, these patterns provide best practices that have already been tested and validated.
This approach:
Examples of Security Design Patterns
SABSA (Sherwood Applied Business Security Architecture) is a framework for developing security architectures that are fully aligned with business needs.
Rather than focusing solely on technical security, SABSA ensures that every security decision directly supports business objectives.
SABSA structures security architecture across strategic, tactical, and operational layers. This layered approach enables security to be analyzed and implemented at every level, ensuring it consistently supports business goals.
Example:
In a SABSA-driven architecture, to focus is on “Why?”:
The answer to “Why are we using this encryption protocol?” is not simply “Because it is secure,”
but rather:
“To protect customer data confidentiality and preserve business value and brand reputation.”
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) is a widely adopted framework designed to help organizations manage and reduce cybersecurity risks.
Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), it provides a structured and flexible approach to improving an organization’s security posture.
The framework is built around five core functions:
This model enables organizations to: