IT Security Architecture

This article derives a definition for IT Security Architecture by combining the suggestions from the previous articles.

 

In the article “IT Security” we proposed the following definition:

  • Security provided by IT Systems can be defined as the IT system’s ability to being able to protect confidentiality and integrity of processed data, provide availability of the system and data, accountability for transactions processed, and assurance that the system will continue to perform to its design goals

In the article “IT Architecture” we proposed the following definition:

  • A set of design artifacts, that are relevant for describing an object such that it can be produced to requirements (quality) as well as maintained over the period of its useful life (change). The design artifact describe the structure of components, their inter-relationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time.

 

 

 

Consequently we suggest that the definition of “IT Security Architecture” is:

The design artifacts that describe how the security controls (= security countermeasures) are positioned, and how they relate to the overall IT Architecture. These controls serve the purpose to maintain the system’s quality attributes, among them confidentiality, integrity, availability, accountability and assurance.