Security in System Design

Week 10: Security in System Design

1. Security Principles and Best Practices:

Lecture 1: Introduction to System Security
Define the importance of security in system design.
Explain the principle of defense in depth.
Lecture 2: Security Best Practices
Discuss foundational security practices such as the principle of least privilege and the need-to-know principle.
Explore concepts like the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability).
Lab 1: Implementing Security Best Practices
Apply security best practices in a simple application by configuring user access permissions and implementing data encryption.

2. Authentication and Authorization:

Lecture 3: Authentication Methods
Explain the various authentication methods, including username/password, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and OAuth.
Discuss the pros and cons of each method.
Lecture 4: Authorization and Access Control
Explore role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC) for authorization.
Discuss the principle of least privilege in access control.
Lab 2: Implementing Authentication and Authorization
Secure an application by implementing user authentication and role-based authorization.
Test access control to verify security.

3. Data Encryption and Privacy:

Lecture 5: Data Encryption Fundamentals
Explain the importance of data encryption in transit and at rest.
Discuss encryption algorithms and key management.
Lecture 6: Privacy and Compliance
Explore data privacy regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.
Discuss the impact of privacy laws on system design and data handling.
Lab 3: Implementing Data Encryption
Encrypt sensitive data in an application and ensure secure transmission over the network.
Conduct security audits to validate encryption.

4. Common Security Vulnerabilities and Mitigation:

Lecture 7: Common Security Vulnerabilities
Highlight common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and cross-site request forgery (CSRF).
Discuss the impact of these vulnerabilities.
Lecture 8: Security Mitigation Strategies
Introduce strategies for mitigating security vulnerabilities, including input validation, output encoding, and security headers.
Explore the use of security tools like OWASP ZAP.
Lab 4: Identifying and Mitigating Vulnerabilities
Perform security testing on a web application to identify vulnerabilities.
Implement security fixes to mitigate identified issues.

Homework Assignment:

Research and document a case study of a security breach in a well-known company, analyzing the vulnerabilities that led to the breach and proposing security improvements.

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