Secure systems

The Secure systems pillar helps you implement comprehensive security controls including identity and access management, data protection, secrets management, and network security to prevent unauthorized access and protect sensitive information. This pillar ensures security is built into every layer of your infrastructure and application stack, from the network perimeter to individual application components.

When you successfully implement this pillar, you transform from reactive, compliance-focused security to proactive, integrated security that protects against modern threats. This transformation helps you build security into your development and deployment processes, ensuring that security controls scale with infrastructure growth and application complexity. You can maintain comprehensive security posture while accelerating delivery and innovation.

Topics in this pillar

This pillar covers five main areas that work together to create comprehensive system security:

• Compliance and governance ensures adherence to regulations and standards, including compliance frameworks, audit trails, and security governance processes.

• Secure applications covers building security into the development process, including certificate management, CI/CD security, and secure coding practices.

• Secure data focuses on protecting data throughout its lifecycle, including data classification, encryption, and data protection strategies.

• Secure secrets covers the secure storage and distribution of sensitive credentials and configuration, including automatic rotation, access control, and audit logging.

• Prevent lateral movement provides protection against network-based threats and unauthorized access, including service mesh implementation and zero trust security.

Why this matters

Comprehensive system security gives you immediate protection and long-term risk mitigation. From a technical perspective, integrated security controls prevent unauthorized access, protect sensitive data, and help you detect and respond to security threats effectively. You can implement defense-in-depth strategies that provide multiple layers of protection against various attack vectors.

The business impact goes far beyond technical protection. Secure systems protect against data breaches and associated financial and reputational damage that can have long-lasting effects on your organization. Organizations that demonstrate strong security practices build customer trust and competitive advantage in markets where security is a key differentiator.

Security controls also help you comply with industry regulations and security standards that are increasingly important for business operations. You can implement security practices that meet regulatory requirements while maintaining operational efficiency and enabling business growth.

Who needs this

Security architects and security engineers will find this pillar essential for designing comprehensive security architectures and implementing security controls. These professionals need to understand how to integrate security into infrastructure and application designs, implement security monitoring and response systems, and maintain security posture across complex environments.

DevSecOps teams and security-focused development teams are the primary implementers who will use this guidance to integrate security into development and deployment pipelines. They need practical guidance on implementing security controls that work effectively in automated environments and scale with infrastructure growth.

Compliance teams and risk management professionals will find value in understanding how to implement security practices that meet regulatory requirements and industry standards. These teams need to work closely with technical teams to ensure that security controls are comprehensive, effective, and aligned with compliance requirements.

Infrastructure and platform teams will benefit from understanding how to implement security controls at the infrastructure level, including network security, access controls, and monitoring systems. These professionals need guidance on building secure infrastructure that supports application security requirements.

When to focus on this pillar

Focus on this pillar when your organization handles sensitive data, operates in regulated industries, or needs to protect against security threats and compliance risks. This pillar is most valuable when you are experiencing security incidents, when you need to meet compliance requirements, or when you want to build customer trust through demonstrated security practices.

Organizations that have already established automation, optimization, and resilience practices will find this pillar particularly valuable, as it provides the security foundation that protects those investments. It is also essential for organizations operating in highly regulated industries or those with strict security requirements.

How this fits with the framework

The Secure Systems pillar provides the security foundation that protects your automation, optimization, and resilience investments. It ensures that efficient, reliable systems are also secure and compliant. Without proper security controls, you risk compromising all other architectural benefits and exposing yourself to significant business risks.

This pillar relies on the automation practices established in the Define and automate processes pillar. Security controls must be integrated into automated workflows to be effective at scale. You can implement automated security scanning, compliance checking, and security testing that ensures security practices are consistently applied across all environments and deployments.

The Optimize Systems pillar benefits from security practices that ensure optimization does not compromise security posture. You can implement security monitoring and response systems that scale with infrastructure growth, ensuring that security controls remain effective as systems scale and optimize.

The Design Resilient Systems pillar is enhanced by security practices that ensure security controls remain operational during failures. You can implement security monitoring and response systems that continue to function during infrastructure failures, maintaining security posture even during adverse conditions.