SE Security Architecture and Design

Question 1

What is the core principle of Zero Trust Architecture?

Accepted Answer

Never trust, always verify — authenticate and authorize every request regardless of network location

Answer

Trust all internal network traffic by default

Answer

Block all external traffic at the perimeter

Answer

Trust users after initial login for the rest of the session

Question 2

Which security design principle advocates building multiple layers of defense so that if one layer fails, others continue to protect?

Accepted Answer

Defense in depth

Answer

Least privilege

Answer

Fail secure

Answer

Economy of mechanism

Question 3

What does 'fail secure' (fail closed) mean in security design?

Accepted Answer

When a system fails, it defaults to a secure state that denies access rather than granting it

Answer

Systems continue operating during failures to maintain availability

Answer

Logs are preserved even after system failure

Answer

Automatic patching occurs on failure

Question 4

Which security design principle recommends that security mechanisms should be as simple as possible to facilitate verification and reduce attack surface?

Accepted Answer

Economy of mechanism

Answer

Open design

Answer

Complete mediation

Answer

Separation of privilege

Question 5

What is threat modeling and when should it ideally be performed?

Accepted Answer

A structured process to identify, quantify, and address security threats; ideally during the design phase

Answer

Testing production systems for vulnerabilities; after deployment

Answer

Writing security policies; during audits

Answer

Scanning for known CVEs; during patching cycles

Question 6

Which architecture pattern places all security enforcement at a single point through which all access must pass?

Accepted Answer

Choke point / complete mediation

Answer

Distributed security controls

Answer

Decentralized identity

Answer

Microservices mesh