"Security engineering is the process of incorporating security controls into an information system so that the controls become an integral part of the system’s operational capabilities."
The study of techniques used to verify and validate the security of computer systems and software.
Threat modeling: The process of identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities to a system or application and assessing their potential impact.
Risk assessment: The process of determining the likelihood and potential impact of various threats to a system or application.
Penetration testing: The process of attempting to exploit vulnerabilities in a system or application to identify potential security weaknesses.
Vulnerability scanning: The automated process of identifying potential vulnerabilities in a system or application.
Code review: The manual inspection of source code to identify potential security flaws or weaknesses.
Security testing: The process of evaluating the security posture of a system or application using a variety of testing techniques.
Authentication: The process of verifying the identity of a user, device, or system.
Access control: The process of managing and restricting access to resources based on a user's identity or role.
Encryption: The process of converting plain text into a ciphered form using cryptographic algorithms.
Digital signature: A cryptographic technique used to verify the authenticity and integrity of data or messages.
Public key infrastructure (PKI): A framework for managing public-key encryption and digital certificates.
Secure protocols: Protocols and standards designed to ensure data communication and transfer are secure.
Network security: Measures and techniques designed to secure network infrastructure and prevent unauthorized access or data theft.
Security policy: A set of guidelines and procedures that define how an organization handles security-related issues.
Incident response: The process of identifying, documenting, and responding to security incidents.
Security auditing: The process of evaluating the effectiveness of security measures, policies, and procedures.
Compliance: Adherence to security regulations, standards, and requirements.
Secure development lifecycle: A methodology for building software with security in mind throughout the entire development process.
Data privacy: Measures designed to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with data privacy laws and regulations.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain security: Measures and techniques designed to secure blockchain-based systems and currencies.
Penetration testing: Simulates a real-world attack on a system to identify vulnerabilities and potential cyber attacks.
Code analysis: Involves reviewing the source code of an application for vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities, and security weaknesses.
Security audit: Evaluates an organization's security policies and practices, identifying potential weaknesses and gaps that could lead to security concerns.
Risk assessment: Evaluates the risks associated with potential security breaches and security vulnerabilities and recommends measures for mitigation.
Security requirements analysis: Analyzes the security requirements for the software or system and ensures that they are in compliance with industry standards and best practices.
Cryptographic analysis: Evaluates cryptographic protocols and algorithms to ensure their security against attacks.
Security architecture evaluation: Assesses the security of the system's design and architecture to identify potential weaknesses or flaws.
Threat modeling: Assesses potential threats and vulnerabilities to a system and identifies measures to mitigate these risks.
Interoperability and conformance testing: Ensures the compatibility and compliance of a system with specific standards and protocols.
Security testing of hardware and firmware: Evaluates the security of a device's hardware and firmware by reviewing its design and testing its functionality.
Security testing of network infrastructure: Performs network security testing to identify potential vulnerabilities, such as firewall weaknesses and unauthorized access points.
Incident response testing: Evaluates an organization's response to a security incident and identifies potential areas for improvement.
Social engineering testing: Evaluates the susceptibility of employees to phishing attacks, tailgating, and other social engineering techniques.
Usability security testing: Evaluates the user experience of security-related functions, such as password resetting and two-factor authentication.
Compliance testing: Ensures that an organization is in compliance with various security regulations and standards, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, and GDPR.
"Its primary motivation is to support the delivery of engineering solutions that satisfy pre-defined functional and user requirements."
"It has the added dimension of preventing misuse and malicious behavior."
"Those constraints and restrictions are often asserted as a security policy."
"In one form or another, security engineering has existed as an informal field of study for several centuries."
"The concerns for modern security engineering and computer systems were first solidified in a RAND paper from 1967, 'Security and Privacy in Computer Systems' by Willis H. Ware."
"This paper provided many of the fundamental information security concepts, labelled today as Cybersecurity, that impact modern computer systems, from cloud implementations to embedded IoT."
"Recent catastrophic events, most notably 9/11, have made security engineering quickly become a rapidly-growing field."
"In fact, in a report completed in 2006, it was estimated that the global security industry was valued at US $150 billion."
"Security engineering involves aspects of social science, psychology, economics, physics, chemistry, mathematics, criminology architecture, and landscaping."
"Some of the techniques used, such as fault tree analysis, are derived from safety engineering."
"Other techniques such as cryptography were previously restricted to military applications."
"One of the pioneers of establishing security engineering as a formal field of study is Ross Anderson."
"For example, the fields of locksmithing and security printing have been around for many years."
"Psychology (such as designing a system to 'fail well', instead of trying to eliminate all sources of error) is involved in security engineering."
"Economics is involved in security engineering."
"Criminology, architecture, and landscaping are related to security engineering."
"Designing a system to 'fail well', instead of trying to eliminate all sources of error."
"This paper, later expanded in 1979, provided many of the fundamental information security concepts."
"The controls become an integral part of the system’s operational capabilities."