Security architecture
On this page 9 topics
Overview
Topics
- Identity boundaries
- zero-trust principles
- service-to-service authorization
Learn first
3.5 h of practice (estimate)
Learning outcomes
- Define identity boundaries for users, services, and partners across two merged organizations.
- Apply zero-trust principles: authenticate and authorize every request, assume breach.
- Design service-to-service authorization (workload identity, mTLS, scoped tokens, policy engines).
- Plan least-privilege access to data across teams.
Lessons
Lab and exercises
Lab
SRB-016-LAB1 · Merged trust model
Outcomes: 1–4 · Time: ~3.5 h
- Define identity authorities and lifecycles for users, services, and partners across Shop and FulfillCo.
- Design service-to-service authorization with workload identity, scoped tokens or mTLS, and a policy layer.
- Plan least-privilege access to data across the four teams, and a migration away from network-based trust.
- Present the architecture to a role-played security architect and record findings.
Acceptance: no network-location-based trust remains; reviewed by a role-played security architect.
Exercises (assessment: architecture review)
| ID | Outcome | Task |
|---|---|---|
| SRB-016-EX01 | 1 | Case: Shop and FulfillCo each have a user store. Design identity boundaries and federation for staff, services, and partners. |
| SRB-016-EX02 | 1 | Write the identity table (type, authority, credential, lifecycle, revocation) for the merged platform. |
| SRB-016-EX03 | 2 | Review a design that trusts the internal subnet; list five zero-trust changes in priority order. |
| SRB-016-EX04 | 3 | Draft the authorization matrix for three FulfillCo services against Shop order events and the Shop API. |
| SRB-016-EX05 | 3 | Choose between mTLS identities and scoped tokens for event consumers, with reasons and failure behavior. |
| SRB-016-EX06 | 3 | Write five policy test cases (three allow, two deny) for the order-event reader. |
| SRB-016-EX07 | 4 | Plan data access so that the returns team sees only what it needs; include audit and review cadence. |
Show solutions
- EX01 Federate staff login through one authority; use a workload identity system for services; onboard partners with scoped credentials and separate tenants. Do not merge user stores before federation is proven.
- EX02 Rows per type with authority, short-lived credentials for services, lifecycle events, and a named revoker.
- EX03 Order: protect highest-value paths first, add authentication in report-only mode, issue workload identities, enforce, drop subnet allow rules, add audit and monitoring.
- EX04 Matrix of caller | endpoint or topic | action; least privilege such as read order events but not payment fields.
- EX05 mTLS gives mutual authentication and encryption; scoped tokens add per-request scope; many designs combine them. Decide fail-closed behavior and certificate or token rotation.
- EX06 Allow: right identity and topic. Allow: read-only action. Allow: right audience. Deny: unknown identity. Deny: right identity wrong topic.
- EX07 Views or scoped APIs instead of shared database access, separate credentials per team, periodic access review, audit logs.
- Outcome 2 is also covered by the lab's migration away from network trust and Q03.
Workplace evidence: a security architecture change you led across services.
Quiz
Outcomes: O1 identity boundaries · O2 zero trust · O3 service-to-service authorization · O4 least-privilege data access.
A self-check for you: nothing is graded, saved or sent anywhere. Choose an answer, then check it. You can try again as often as you like.
Practical part
Present the merged trust model to a role-played security architect (SRB-016 assessment) and complete SRB-016-LAB1. Pass: at least 8/10 on the quiz, an architecture with no network-location-based trust remaining, and a recorded review.
Common mistakes
"inside the VPC means trusted"; shared credentials between teams.
Assessment
Architecture review.
Workplace evidence
A security architecture change you led across services.
Career relevance
Security architecture strategy (STF-008) and identity architecture (ARC-027).