Security Documentation Overview
Create comprehensive security documentation including policies, guidelines, compliance requirements, and best practices for secure application development and operations.
When to Use Security policies Compliance documentation (SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA) Security guidelines and best practices Incident response plans Access control policies Data protection policies Vulnerability disclosure policies Security audit reports Security Policy Template
Security Policy
Version: 2.0 Last Updated: 2025-01-15 Review Schedule: Quarterly Owner: Security Team Contact: security@example.com
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Scope
- Authentication & Access Control
- Data Protection
- Application Security
- Infrastructure Security
- Incident Response
- Compliance
- Security Training
1. Overview
Purpose
This security policy defines the security standards, practices, and procedures to protect [Company Name]'s information assets, customer data, and infrastructure.
Objectives
- Protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data
- Comply with regulatory requirements (GDPR, SOC 2, etc.)
- Minimize security risks and vulnerabilities
- Establish clear security responsibilities
- Define incident response procedures
Scope
This policy applies to: - All employees, contractors, and third-party vendors - All systems, applications, and infrastructure - All customer and company data - Both on-premise and cloud resources
2. Authentication & Access Control
2.1 Password Requirements
Minimum Requirements: - Length: Minimum 12 characters - Complexity: Mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols - History: Cannot reuse last 5 passwords - Expiration: 90 days (for privileged accounts) - Lockout: 5 failed attempts triggers 30-minute lockout
Example Strong Password:
Good: MyC0mplex!Pass#2025 Bad: password123
Implementation:
```javascript // Password validation function validatePassword(password) { const minLength = 12; const requirements = { length: password.length >= minLength, uppercase: /[A-Z]/.test(password), lowercase: /[a-z]/.test(password), number: /[0-9]/.test(password), special: /[!@#$%^&*(),.?":{}|<>]/.test(password) };
return Object.values(requirements).every(Boolean); }
2.2 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Requirements:
Mandatory for: Production system access Administrative accounts Customer-facing applications VPN access Source code repositories
Supported Methods:
TOTP (Google Authenticator, Authy) SMS (backup only, not primary) Hardware tokens (YubiKey) Biometric (fingerprint, Face ID)
Implementation:
// MFA verification async function verifyMFA(userId, token) { const user = await User.findById(userId); const secret = user.twoFactorSecret;
// Verify TOTP token const isValid = speakeasy.totp.verify({ secret, encoding: 'base32', token, window: 2 // Allow 1 minute time drift });
if (isValid) { await logSecurityEvent('mfa_success', userId); return true; }
await logSecurityEvent('mfa_failure', userId); return false; }
2.3 Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Principle of Least Privilege: Users receive minimum access needed for their role.
Roles:
Role Permissions Access Level Admin Full system access Read/Write/Delete All Developer Code, staging env Read/Write Dev/Staging Support Customer data (limited) Read customer data Auditor Logs, audit trails Read-only all User Own data only Read/Write own data
Implementation:
// Permission middleware const requirePermission = (permission) => { return async (req, res, next) => { const user = req.user; const userPermissions = await getUserPermissions(user.role);
if (!userPermissions.includes(permission)) {
await logSecurityEvent('unauthorized_access', user.id, {
permission,
endpoint: req.path
});
return res.status(403).json({
error: 'Insufficient permissions',
required: permission
});
}
next();
}; };
// Usage app.delete('/api/users/:id', requirePermission('users:delete'), deleteUser);
- Data Protection 3.1 Data Classification Classification Description Examples Protection Public Non-sensitive, publicly available Marketing materials None required Internal Internal use only Company policies Access control Confidential Sensitive business data Financial reports Encryption + MFA Restricted Highly sensitive PII, passwords, keys Encryption + strict access 3.2 Encryption Standards
Data at Rest:
Algorithm: AES-256 Key Management: AWS KMS / HashiCorp Vault Database: Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) // Encrypt sensitive data before storage const crypto = require('crypto');
function encryptData(plaintext, key) { const iv = crypto.randomBytes(16); const cipher = crypto.createCipheriv('aes-256-gcm', key, iv);
let encrypted = cipher.update(plaintext, 'utf8', 'hex'); encrypted += cipher.final('hex');
const authTag = cipher.getAuthTag();
return { encrypted, iv: iv.toString('hex'), authTag: authTag.toString('hex') }; }
Data in Transit:
Protocol: TLS 1.3 (minimum TLS 1.2) Cipher Suites: Strong ciphers only Certificate: Valid SSL/TLS certificate
Nginx TLS configuration
ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3; ssl_ciphers 'ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256'; ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on; ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m; ssl_session_timeout 10m;
3.3 Data Retention Data Type Retention Period Deletion Method Customer data Until account deletion + 30 days Secure wipe Access logs 90 days Automated deletion Audit logs 7 years Archived, then deleted Backups 30 days Overwrite + shred 4. Application Security 4.1 Secure Coding Practices
Input Validation:
// ✅ Good - Validate and sanitize input const validator = require('validator');
function createUser(req, res) { const { email, name } = req.body;
// Validate email if (!validator.isEmail(email)) { return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Invalid email' }); }
// Sanitize name const sanitizedName = validator.escape(name);
// Use parameterized queries db.query( 'INSERT INTO users (email, name) VALUES ($1, $2)', [email, sanitizedName] ); }
// ❌ Bad - SQL injection vulnerability
function createUserBad(req, res) {
const { email, name } = req.body;
db.query(INSERT INTO users VALUES ('${email}', '${name}'));
}
XSS Prevention:
// Content Security Policy headers app.use((req, res, next) => { res.setHeader( 'Content-Security-Policy', "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';" ); next(); });
// Sanitize output import DOMPurify from 'isomorphic-dompurify';
function renderComment(comment) { const clean = DOMPurify.sanitize(comment, { ALLOWED_TAGS: ['b', 'i', 'em', 'strong'], ALLOWED_ATTR: [] }); return clean; }
4.2 Security Headers // Security headers middleware app.use((req, res, next) => { // Prevent clickjacking res.setHeader('X-Frame-Options', 'DENY');
// XSS protection res.setHeader('X-Content-Type-Options', 'nosniff'); res.setHeader('X-XSS-Protection', '1; mode=block');
// HTTPS enforcement res.setHeader('Strict-Transport-Security', 'max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains');
// Referrer policy res.setHeader('Referrer-Policy', 'strict-origin-when-cross-origin');
next(); });
4.3 API Security
Rate Limiting:
const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit');
const limiter = rateLimit({ windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes max: 100, // limit each IP to 100 requests per windowMs message: 'Too many requests from this IP', standardHeaders: true, legacyHeaders: false });
app.use('/api/', limiter);
- Infrastructure Security 5.1 Network Security
Firewall Rules:
Default deny all Allow only required ports Whitelist trusted IPs for admin access
Example iptables rules
iptables -P INPUT DROP iptables -P FORWARD DROP iptables -P OUTPUT ACCEPT
Allow SSH from specific IP
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s 203.0.113.0/24 --dport 22 -j ACCEPT
Allow HTTP/HTTPS
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT
5.2 Server Hardening
Checklist:
Disable root SSH login Use SSH keys, disable password auth Install security updates automatically Enable firewall (ufw/iptables) Configure fail2ban Disable unused services Enable audit logging Set up intrusion detection (AIDE, Tripwire) 6. Incident Response 6.1 Security Incident Severity Severity Description Response Time Examples Critical Massive data breach, ransomware Immediate Database exposed, encryption compromised High Significant security compromise < 1 hour Admin account compromised, DDoS Medium Limited security issue < 4 hours XSS vulnerability, phishing attempt Low Minor security concern < 24 hours Weak password, outdated library 6.2 Incident Response Plan
Phase 1: Detection (0-15 minutes)
Alert received via monitoring/user report Triage severity level Assemble incident response team Create incident ticket
Phase 2: Containment (15-60 minutes)
Isolate affected systems Block malicious IPs/domains Revoke compromised credentials Enable additional monitoring
Phase 3: Investigation (1-4 hours)
Analyze logs and forensics Identify attack vector Determine scope of breach Document findings
Phase 4: Eradication (4-24 hours)
Remove malware/backdoors Patch vulnerabilities Update security controls Verify systems are clean
Phase 5: Recovery (24-48 hours)
Restore from clean backups Gradually restore services Monitor for re-infection Update documentation
Phase 6: Post-Incident (1 week)
Conduct post-mortem Update security policies Implement preventive measures Train team on lessons learned 7. Compliance 7.1 GDPR Compliance
Requirements:
Data processing records Privacy policy Cookie consent Data subject rights (access, deletion, portability) Data breach notification (72 hours) Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) 7.2 SOC 2 Compliance
Trust Services Criteria:
Security: Protect against unauthorized access Availability: System is available as committed Processing Integrity: Processing is complete and accurate Confidentiality: Confidential information is protected Privacy: Personal information is properly handled 8. Vulnerability Disclosure Reporting Security Issues
Contact: security@example.com PGP Key: [Link to public key]
Reward Program:
Critical: $5,000 - $10,000 High: $1,000 - $5,000 Medium: $500 - $1,000 Low: $100 - $500
Scope:
✅ In scope: Production systems, APIs, mobile apps ❌ Out of scope: Test environments, third-party services 9. Security Audit Log
All security events must be logged:
function logSecurityEvent(event, userId, metadata = {}) { logger.security({ timestamp: new Date().toISOString(), event, userId, ip: metadata.ip, userAgent: metadata.userAgent, resource: metadata.resource, outcome: metadata.outcome }); }
// Events to log: // - login_success, login_failure // - password_change // - mfa_enabled, mfa_disabled // - permission_change // - data_export // - admin_action
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Follow principle of least privilege
- Encrypt sensitive data
- Implement MFA everywhere
- Log security events
- Regular security audits
- Keep systems updated
- Document security policies
- Train employees regularly
- Have incident response plan
- Test backups regularly
❌ DON'T
- Store passwords in plaintext
- Skip input validation
- Ignore security headers
- Share credentials
- Hardcode secrets in code
- Skip security testing
- Ignore vulnerability reports