Securityfocused

Securityfocused is an adjective used to describe systems, processes, or teams that place security as a primary consideration in all aspects of their lifecycle. It can refer to a design philosophy, a product attribute, or a team culture that aims to minimize risk by integrating security into requirements, architecture, and operations from the outset rather than as an afterthought.

Core principles often associated with a securityfocused approach include threat modeling, least privilege, defense in depth, secure defaults, verifiability, and ongoing risk assessment. In practice, it emphasizes secure-by-design and secure-by-default practices, explicit security requirements, and continuous monitoring and auditing to detect and respond to issues.

Common practices encompass threat modeling during early design, adherence to secure coding standards, code reviews focused on security, automated security testing (static, dynamic analysis, and software composition analysis), fuzzing, dependency risk management, and the use of software bill of materials (SBOMs). Incident response planning, patch and configuration management, and supply chain security are also integral components.

Applications span software development, hardware design, cloud and network architecture, and product development. Teams or organizations that label themselves as securityfocused may also adopt related approaches such as DevSecOps and ongoing vulnerability management programs.

Benefits include reduced attack surface and improved resilience, while trade-offs can involve higher development costs, potential increases in complexity, and possible tensions between security and usability. Related concepts include security engineering, privacy by design, and secure by default.