Security Architecture Review and Optimization

For a large national corporation with a large number of locations and a third-party hosting location, ensuring the safest, fastest, and easiest network configuration for monitoring and operating various Building Automation Systems (BAS) and IoT systems involves a combination of modern networking technologies and best practices. Network Architecture, Centralized Management with Distributed Control, A robust core network at the third-party hosting location to manage central operations. Deploy edge devices at each location for local control and data aggregation. Use SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) to provide centralized management, policy control, and dynamic routing across all locations. SD-WAN enhances security, optimizes bandwidth, and improves connectivity. Ensure redundant internet connections at each location to avoid downtime. Failover Mechanisms: Implement failover mechanisms to switch to backup systems seamlessly during outages. VLANs and Subnets: Use VLANs and subnets to segregate BAS and IoT traffic from other corporate network traffic. Implement micro-segmentation to provide fine-grained security controls within the network. Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW): Deploy NGFWs to protect against advanced threats. Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS): Implement IDPS to monitor and prevent malicious activities. Secure Remote Access, Use VPNs for secure remote access to the BAS and IoT systems. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA): Adopt ZTNA principles to ensure strict identity verification before granting access. Performance Optimization Traffic Prioritization: Use QoS policies to prioritize BAS and IoT traffic to ensure reliable and timely data transmission. Implement edge computing to process data locally and reduce latency. Aggregate data at the edge before sending it to the central location, reducing bandwidth usage. Ease of Management, Use a unified management platform to monitor and manage all network devices, BAS, and IoT systems from a single interface. Automate routine tasks and use orchestration tools to streamline network management. Design the network with scalability in mind to easily add new locations or devices. Integrate with cloud services for scalable data storage and processing. Recommended Technologies and Tools, Cisco Meraki for SD-WAN, security, and centralized management. Palo Alto Networks for advanced firewall and security solutions. AWS IoT or Azure IoT for cloud-based IoT management and edge computing capabilities. Dell EMC or HP Enterprise for robust server and storage solutions. Implementation Strategy, Conduct a thorough assessment of existing infrastructure and requirements. Develop a detailed network design and implementation plan. Implement a pilot at a few selected locations to test the configuration and performance. Gradually roll out the network configuration to all locations.

Staying budget-neutral while maintaining a strong security posture—let’s explore the Invest-Divest-Optimize (IDO) Framework for technology stack rationalization. Disclaimer: Partha's personal opinion, not a vendor endorsement The rapid expansion of security technologies has led to overly complex stack, rationalizing has become the need of the hour. IDO Framework for Security Technologies 1. INVEST • Focus on critical technologies that align with business objectives and enhance security posture. • Example: Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) with intrusion prevention (IPS) and deep packet inspection for hybrid cloud security. • Actions: Increase adoption, integrate with tools, and maintain updates. 2. DIVEST • Remove redundant or underutilized technologies with overlapping functionalities. • Example: Decommissioning duplicate endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions. • Actions: Migrate workloads, retain data, and eliminate unused licenses. 3. OPTIMIZE • Improve functional but underleveraged tools. • Example: Enhancing SIEM platforms with threat intelligence feeds to boost detection. • Actions: Automate workflows, improve integration, and train staff. Steps for Rationalizing the Security Stack 1. Assess Current State • Inventory tools by purpose (e.g., endpoint security, network protection) and evaluate costs, effectiveness, and adoption. 2. Identify Overlaps • Detect redundancies, such as tools offering similar functionalities (e.g., CASB vs. cloud-native tools). 3. Apply the IDO Framework • Categorize tools into Invest, Divest, or Optimize based on relevance, adoption, and efficiency. 4. Implement Changes • Ensure seamless transitions during divestment or optimization. 5. Monitor and Adapt • Regularly evaluate the performance of rationalized tools and adjust as needed. Decision Tree for Divesting Technologies 1. Start: Is there functional overlap? • No: Retain the current stack. • Yes: Evaluate core relevance. 2. Core Relevance: Is it critical to business or security operations? • Yes: Retain it. • No: Assess adoption levels. 3. Adoption Levels: Is it widely used? • Yes: Evaluate vendor support. • No: Divest the technology. 4. Vendor Support: Is support robust with updates and a roadmap? • Yes: Optimize it for efficiency. • No: Divest the technology. Examples of IDO in Action 1. Invest: • Technology: NGFWs. • Rationale: Aligns with Zero Trust and hybrid cloud security. 2. Divest: • Technology: Redundant EDR solutions. • Rationale: Consolidate to one comprehensive endpoint platform. 3. Optimize: • Technology: SIEM platforms. • Rationale: Reduce alert fatigue and enhance detection through automation. Key Benefits of Rationalization 1. Cost Efficiency 2. Improved Visibility 3. Simplified Operations 4. Stronger ROI By adopting the IDO framework, organizations can maintain robust security while eliminating inefficiencies and redundancies in their technology stack.

If you're in Product Security, there's one activity that you should be doing, that you might be missing out on. And this is one's a game-changer. Its the "Security Architecture Review". What makes it great? Let's dive in First, let's start with what a "Security Architecture Review" (SAR) is It's a holistic cross-layer assessment of your application and its entire stack. Its one of those "assessment of assessments" that gives you a picture of all the stuff you need to probably be paying a little more attention to. It typically encompasses: * Your application stack and workloads * Infrastructure * Source Management and CI/CD * Supply-Chain Security My team and I have worked on over 100 SARs in 2024 and we're already done with 30 odd ones in 2025. They're becoming really popular. And I think there are a few reasons for this 1. Modern apps have a pretty complex stack. There's a lot going on. LLM Models, Vector stores, Cloud infra, Containers, IaC, CI/CD, GitOps, Supply-Chain Security, Secrets Management. And all this, even before you sink your teeth into the application itself. Its important to get a sense of overall risk of the entire environment before deciding to dive into specific areas and address more tactical security elements in these areas. SAR helps you do this really well. 2. A good SAR is driven by good Threat Analysis. Its a natural extension or validation of a Threat Model. Threat Modeling is an important activity in a SAR, and it helps validate/refute a threat model. This gives a much clearer view of the risk profile of an application and what actually is likely to happen based on a cross-layer assessment, which is the SAR. 3. SAR is the only assessment that cuts across multiple areas, providing an incisive view of security across layers. This is hard to find with a pentest, red-team or even an infrastructure security assessment/review, etc. 4. SARs are collaborative processes. When we do SARs we involve multiple members from product engineering, including lead-devs, architects, devops and more. This is useful because security is more visible, front and center. If done asynchronously and with a positive bent of mind, SAR is a gamechanger for product security, from a collab perspective. 5. SAR is an input for other tactical security activities. SAR helps identify areas where more tactical/specific tasks are necessary. Example - SARs have sometimes necessitated a more detailed access control review that has uncovered several security issues that affect the application. 6. SAR can help with Secure by Design. A process of executing SARs, where they cut across multiple areas of focus, really helps understand and implement secure by design. There have been several instances where our clients have eliminated entire classes of risks, on the basis of a SAR output. All in all, I think a SAR is a very useful assessment that can help get your product security front and center, and take it to the next level