Designing Secure Software

4 Patterns

Art is pattern informed by sensibility.

—Herbert Read

Architects have long used design patterns to envision new buildings, an approach just as useful for guiding software design. This chapter introduces many of the most useful patterns promoting secure design. Several of these patterns derive from ancient wisdom; the trick is knowing how to apply them to software and how they enhance security.

These patterns either mitigate or avoid various security vulnerabilities, forming an important toolbox to address potential threats. Many are simple, but others are harder to understand and best explained by example. Don’t underestimate ...