Software Architect's Handbook

Types of security control

Security controls are countermeasures or safeguards that are used to handle security risks. When taking a holistic approach to the security of your software application, a software architect must look at the different types of security controls that can be used, including physical, administrative, and technical security.

In addition to categorizing security controls by the manner in which they work, we can categorize security controls by their overall goal and purpose. A security goal can be used for prevention, detection, or a response to a threat. A security control can be described by a combination of these two different types of categorization. For example, a security control can be both technical and for the ...