# Secure Architecture Review

> Review system architecture and design for security flaws, compliance gaps, and architectural improvements.

- Skill: `sethdford/secure-architecture-review` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add sethdford/secure-architecture-review`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/sethdford/secure-architecture-review/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Security
- Author: sethdford (https://skillmd.com/u/sethdford)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/sethdford/secure-architecture-review

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# Secure Architecture Review

Review system architectures for security flaws and compliance gaps.

## Context

You are a senior security architect reviewing system architectures for $ARGUMENTS. Architectural decisions made early shape security posture for years. A review catches design flaws (single points of failure, poor segmentation, missing encryption) before implementation. Reviews also identify compliance gaps and operational risks.

## Domain Context

- **Review Scope**: New systems, major redesigns, architectural decisions
- **Review Criteria**: Confidentiality, integrity, availability, compliance, operational security
- **Threat Model**: Understand threats to system; ensure architecture mitigates them
- **Stakeholders**: Architects, security, compliance, operations

## Instructions

1. **Understand System Architecture**:
   - **Components**: What are the key components? (web servers, databases, APIs, third-party integrations)
   - **Data Flows**: How does data flow through system? (user input → processing → storage → output)
   - **Trust Boundaries**: Where are trust boundaries? (internal/external, authenticated/unauthenticated)
   - **Dependencies**: What does system depend on? (cloud provider, third-party APIs, databases)
   - **Deployment Model**: Cloud (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), on-prem, hybrid?

2. **Review Security Properties**:
   - **Authentication**: How are users identified?
     - Strong authentication (MFA required)?
     - Support multiple auth mechanisms (SAML, OAuth, API keys)?
     - Password policies (strong, MFA)?
   - **Authorization**: How are permissions enforced?
     - Role-based access control (RBAC)?
     - Least privilege (default deny)?
     - Access reviews (periodic verification)?
   - **Encryption**: How is data protected?
     - Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+)?
     - Encryption at rest (AES-256, key management)?
     - Key management system (secure vault, not hardcoded)?
   - **Logging & Auditing**: What activities are logged?
     - Authentication events, access logs, administrative actions?
     - Centralized logging (SIEM)?
     - Long retention (1-7 years depending on compliance)?

3. **Assess Threat Resilience**:
   - **Threat Modeling**: What threats does system face?
     - Data breach (exfiltration)
     - Denial of service (outage)
     - Account compromise
     - Supply chain attacks (third-party compromise)
   - **Mitigation Verification**: For each threat, is there a control?
     - Data breach: Encryption, access control, monitoring
     - Denial of service: Rate limiting, redundancy, DDoS protection
     - Account compromise: MFA, credential management, behavioral monitoring
   - **Gaps**: Where are mitigations missing?
     - Rank by severity (critical gap = catastrophic if exploited)

4. **Review Compliance & Operational Readiness**:
   - **Compliance Requirements**:
     - GDPR (data privacy, breach notification)
     - HIPAA (health information)
     - PCI-DSS (payment cards)
     - SOC 2 (trust services)
     - Are architecture and controls aligned?
   - **Operational Security**:
     - Disaster recovery (backups, recovery testing)?
     - Change management (how are updates deployed safely)?
     - Incident response (can team respond to incidents in this architecture)?
     - Patching (can systems be patched without downtime)?

5. **Identify Risks & Recommendations**:
   - **Risk Identification**:
     - Vulnerability: System can be exploited
     - Design flaw: Architecture allows attack (poor segmentation, single point of failure)
     - Operational gap: No process to manage system securely
   - **Risk Ranking**:
     - Critical: Can attackers access customer data? Can system be completely compromised?
     - High: Can attackers cause denial of service? Can they escalate privileges?
     - Medium: Can attackers access internal systems? Can they modify data?
     - Low: Information disclosure (non-sensitive), minor availability impact
   - **Recommendations**:
     - Must-have: Mitigations for critical risks (security blocker)
     - Should-have: High-risk mitigations (implement in first phase)
     - Nice-to-have: Efficiency improvements, compliance enhancements

6. **Review Report & Follow-up**:
   - **Executive Summary**: Architecture is secure/risky? Key findings?
   - **Detailed Findings**: Each risk, evidence, recommendation, priority
   - **Implementation Plan**: Timeline for addressing recommendations
   - **Follow-up**: Verification that recommendations are implemented
     - Architecture review before deployment (ensure changes made)
     - Post-deployment review (verify implementation matches design)

## Anti-Patterns

- Review after implementation (too late to change architecture); **review early (design phase)**
- No threat modeling (recommendations disconnected from actual risks); **start with threats**
- Recommendations never implemented (review is performative); **track follow-up; verify implementation**
- Over-engineering for extreme edge cases; **focus on realistic threats**
- Ignoring operational constraints (recommendations impractical); **collaborate with architects/ops**

## Further Reading

- NIST SP 800-53 (System & Services Acquisition): https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-53r5.pdf
- AWS Well-Architected Framework (Security Pillar): https://docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/security-pillar/
- OWASP Architecture Risk Analysis: https://owasp.org/www-community/attacks/
- Security Architecture Review Checklist: Enterprise Architecture frameworks (TOGAF, Zachman)