Video 1: Cybersecurity Architecture: Five Principles to Follow (and One to Avoid)

Q1) What are the  5 principles to follow --Cybersecurity Architecture

The 5 cybersecurity principles are Defense in Depth, Principle of Least Privilege, Separation of Duties, Secure by Design, and Keep it Simple. These principles should be applied to every cybersecurity project that you do. They help systems remain secure when individual controls fail. Following these principles also reduces the attack surface and limits the potential impact of cyberattacks. When consistently used, these principles create a strong foundation that supports long-term security and operational stability.

Q2) Explain Defense in Depth ( 5 sentences)

The first principle is Defense in Depth, which involves trying to avoid a single point of failure in a system. For example, when a user is accessing a web application, each part of the process should be secure. That would entail multifactor authentication for the user, an MDM and EDR for the user’s endpoint, firewalls to protect the web server, vulnerability testing for the app server, and encryption on the database for the application. Defense in depth creates an obstacle course or difficulty for the threat actor. The purpose of defense in depth is to provide a cybersecurity defense at each step that a threat actor could face while trying to gain access to a system. This ensures that if a system fails, it fails safe.

Q3 Explain Principle of Least Privilage   ( 5 sentences)

The next principle is Least Privilege, which means only giving access to authorized users for a certain amount of time. This involves constantly going back and making sure that they still need that capability, instead of letting them have it forever. This also includes decreasing the attack surface of an infrastructure by removing unused systems or servers and changing default admin names and passwords. Unused systems can potentially expand an attack surface, making the organization more vulnerable. Also, leaving devices in a default configuration allows threat actors another point of entry because they will know how to get in.

Q4  Explain Separation of Duties   ( 5 sentences)

The third principle is Separation of Duties, which ensures that there is no single point of control. Meaning that multiple people are required to gain access to something in order to force collusion by two bad actors or more than two bad actors to compromise the system. An example of this would be if an employee made a request to IT to get access to a database. The requester is not the same as the approver, so it is a separation of duties. If the requester could approve their own request, it would be a security issue.

Q5 Explain Secure by Design

The fourth principle is Security by Design, which is a common principle that ensures that security practices are implemented throughout the entire design process. It can’t just be something that is implemented at the end of production. It needs to be something that you do throughout, pervasively. This means building security into the design, thinking about secure coding principles along the path, installing on a secure system, and testing and guarding that test data. The designer, administrator, and user are all responsible for security, but it begins with the designer.

Q6  Explain Keep it Simple

The final principle is Keep it Simple which means, do not make the access process harder than necessary. It should still be complex, but not so complex that IT administrators cannot access it. Simplicity reduces the likelihood of configuration errors, which are one of the most common causes of security vulnerabilities. It also makes it easier to maintain and update systems over time, ensuring that security controls remain effective. By avoiding unnecessary complexity, organization can create solutions that both secure and manageable.

Q7  Explain Security through Obscurity  

Cybersecurity professionals should not rely on secret knowledge in order to make a system safe. For example, when encoding text, only the key should be secret, not the crypto algorithm. Security through obscurity is considered weak because once the hidden element is discovered, the entire system becomes vulnerable. Strong systems are designed to remain secure even when their inner workings are publicly known. By focusing on proven, transparent security methods, organizations build defenses that can withstand real-world scrutiny and attacks.