Designing secure architecture means structuring systems with security principles built in — defense in depth, least privilege, zero trust, secure defaults, and more. These principles guide building systems that are resilient to attacks by design.
Core security principles
DEFENSE IN DEPTH → multiple LAYERS of security (network, app, data, etc.) → no single
point of failure; if one layer fails, others still protect
LEAST PRIVILEGE → every component/user gets the MINIMUM access needed → limits blast radius
ZERO TRUST → "never trust, always verify" → don't trust based on network location;
authenticate/authorize every request (vs old "trusted internal network" model)
SECURE DEFAULTS → secure out of the box (closed by default, opt-in to open)
FAIL SECURELY → on failure, default to a SAFE/denied state (not open)
