Agent Skills: Senior Security Engineer

Expert security engineering covering application security, infrastructure security, threat modeling, penetration testing, and compliance.

UncategorizedID: borghei/claude-skills/senior-security

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engineering-team/senior-security/SKILL.md

Skill Metadata

Name
senior-security
Description
Security engineering toolkit for threat modeling, vulnerability analysis, secure architecture, and penetration testing. Includes STRIDE analysis, OWASP guidance, cryptography patterns, and security scanning tools.

Senior Security Engineer

Security engineering tools for threat modeling, vulnerability analysis, secure architecture design, and penetration testing.


Table of Contents


Threat Modeling Workflow

Identify and analyze security threats using STRIDE methodology.

Workflow: Conduct Threat Model

  1. Define system scope and boundaries:
    • Identify assets to protect
    • Map trust boundaries
    • Document data flows
  2. Create data flow diagram:
    • External entities (users, services)
    • Processes (application components)
    • Data stores (databases, caches)
    • Data flows (APIs, network connections)
  3. Apply STRIDE to each DFD element:
    • Spoofing: Can identity be faked?
    • Tampering: Can data be modified?
    • Repudiation: Can actions be denied?
    • Information Disclosure: Can data leak?
    • Denial of Service: Can availability be affected?
    • Elevation of Privilege: Can access be escalated?
  4. Score risks using DREAD:
    • Damage potential (1-10)
    • Reproducibility (1-10)
    • Exploitability (1-10)
    • Affected users (1-10)
    • Discoverability (1-10)
  5. Prioritize threats by risk score
  6. Define mitigations for each threat
  7. Document in threat model report
  8. Validation: All DFD elements analyzed; STRIDE applied; threats scored; mitigations mapped

STRIDE Threat Categories

| Category | Description | Security Property | Mitigation Focus | |----------|-------------|-------------------|------------------| | Spoofing | Impersonating users or systems | Authentication | MFA, certificates, strong auth | | Tampering | Modifying data or code | Integrity | Signing, checksums, validation | | Repudiation | Denying actions | Non-repudiation | Audit logs, digital signatures | | Information Disclosure | Exposing data | Confidentiality | Encryption, access controls | | Denial of Service | Disrupting availability | Availability | Rate limiting, redundancy | | Elevation of Privilege | Gaining unauthorized access | Authorization | RBAC, least privilege |

STRIDE per Element Matrix

| DFD Element | S | T | R | I | D | E | |-------------|---|---|---|---|---|---| | External Entity | X | | X | | | | | Process | X | X | X | X | X | X | | Data Store | | X | X | X | X | | | Data Flow | | X | | X | X | |

See: references/threat-modeling-guide.md


Security Architecture Workflow

Design secure systems using defense-in-depth principles.

Workflow: Design Secure Architecture

  1. Define security requirements:
    • Compliance requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS)
    • Data classification (public, internal, confidential, restricted)
    • Threat model inputs
  2. Apply defense-in-depth layers:
    • Perimeter: WAF, DDoS protection, rate limiting
    • Network: Segmentation, IDS/IPS, mTLS
    • Host: Patching, EDR, hardening
    • Application: Input validation, authentication, secure coding
    • Data: Encryption at rest and in transit
  3. Implement Zero Trust principles:
    • Verify explicitly (every request)
    • Least privilege access (JIT/JEA)
    • Assume breach (segment, monitor)
  4. Configure authentication and authorization:
    • Identity provider selection
    • MFA requirements
    • RBAC/ABAC model
  5. Design encryption strategy:
    • Key management approach
    • Algorithm selection
    • Certificate lifecycle
  6. Plan security monitoring:
    • Log aggregation
    • SIEM integration
    • Alerting rules
  7. Document architecture decisions
  8. Validation: Defense-in-depth layers defined; Zero Trust applied; encryption strategy documented; monitoring planned

Defense-in-Depth Layers

Layer 1: PERIMETER
  WAF, DDoS mitigation, DNS filtering, rate limiting

Layer 2: NETWORK
  Segmentation, IDS/IPS, network monitoring, VPN, mTLS

Layer 3: HOST
  Endpoint protection, OS hardening, patching, logging

Layer 4: APPLICATION
  Input validation, authentication, secure coding, SAST

Layer 5: DATA
  Encryption at rest/transit, access controls, DLP, backup

Authentication Pattern Selection

| Use Case | Recommended Pattern | |----------|---------------------| | Web application | OAuth 2.0 + PKCE with OIDC | | API authentication | JWT with short expiration + refresh tokens | | Service-to-service | mTLS with certificate rotation | | CLI/Automation | API keys with IP allowlisting | | High security | FIDO2/WebAuthn hardware keys |

See: references/security-architecture-patterns.md


Vulnerability Assessment Workflow

Identify and remediate security vulnerabilities in applications.

Workflow: Conduct Vulnerability Assessment

  1. Define assessment scope:
    • In-scope systems and applications
    • Testing methodology (black box, gray box, white box)
    • Rules of engagement
  2. Gather information:
    • Technology stack inventory
    • Architecture documentation
    • Previous vulnerability reports
  3. Perform automated scanning:
    • SAST (static analysis)
    • DAST (dynamic analysis)
    • Dependency scanning
    • Secret detection
  4. Conduct manual testing:
    • Business logic flaws
    • Authentication bypass
    • Authorization issues
    • Injection vulnerabilities
  5. Classify findings by severity:
    • Critical: Immediate exploitation risk
    • High: Significant impact, easier to exploit
    • Medium: Moderate impact or difficulty
    • Low: Minor impact
  6. Develop remediation plan:
    • Prioritize by risk
    • Assign owners
    • Set deadlines
  7. Verify fixes and document
  8. Validation: Scope defined; automated and manual testing complete; findings classified; remediation tracked

OWASP Top 10 Mapping

| Rank | Vulnerability | Testing Approach | |------|---------------|------------------| | A01 | Broken Access Control | Manual IDOR testing, authorization checks | | A02 | Cryptographic Failures | Algorithm review, key management audit | | A03 | Injection | SAST + manual payload testing | | A04 | Insecure Design | Threat modeling, architecture review | | A05 | Security Misconfiguration | Configuration audit, CIS benchmarks | | A06 | Vulnerable Components | Dependency scanning, CVE monitoring | | A07 | Authentication Failures | Password policy, session management review | | A08 | Software/Data Integrity | CI/CD security, code signing verification | | A09 | Logging Failures | Log review, SIEM configuration check | | A10 | SSRF | Manual URL manipulation testing |

Vulnerability Severity Matrix

| Impact / Exploitability | Easy | Moderate | Difficult | |-------------------------|------|----------|-----------| | Critical | Critical | Critical | High | | High | Critical | High | Medium | | Medium | High | Medium | Low | | Low | Medium | Low | Low |


Secure Code Review Workflow

Review code for security vulnerabilities before deployment.

Workflow: Conduct Security Code Review

  1. Establish review scope:
    • Changed files and functions
    • Security-sensitive areas (auth, crypto, input handling)
    • Third-party integrations
  2. Run automated analysis:
    • SAST tools (Semgrep, CodeQL, Bandit)
    • Secret scanning
    • Dependency vulnerability check
  3. Review authentication code:
    • Password handling (hashing, storage)
    • Session management
    • Token validation
  4. Review authorization code:
    • Access control checks
    • RBAC implementation
    • Privilege boundaries
  5. Review data handling:
    • Input validation
    • Output encoding
    • SQL query construction
    • File path handling
  6. Review cryptographic code:
    • Algorithm selection
    • Key management
    • Random number generation
  7. Document findings with severity
  8. Validation: Automated scans passed; auth/authz reviewed; data handling checked; crypto verified; findings documented

Security Code Review Checklist

| Category | Check | Risk | |----------|-------|------| | Input Validation | All user input validated and sanitized | Injection | | Output Encoding | Context-appropriate encoding applied | XSS | | Authentication | Passwords hashed with Argon2/bcrypt | Credential theft | | Session | Secure cookie flags set (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite) | Session hijacking | | Authorization | Server-side permission checks on all endpoints | Privilege escalation | | SQL | Parameterized queries used exclusively | SQL injection | | File Access | Path traversal sequences rejected | Path traversal | | Secrets | No hardcoded credentials or keys | Information disclosure | | Dependencies | Known vulnerable packages updated | Supply chain | | Logging | Sensitive data not logged | Information disclosure |

Secure vs Insecure Patterns

| Pattern | Issue | Secure Alternative | |---------|-------|-------------------| | SQL string formatting | SQL injection | Use parameterized queries with placeholders | | Shell command building | Command injection | Use subprocess with argument lists, no shell | | Path concatenation | Path traversal | Validate and canonicalize paths | | MD5/SHA1 for passwords | Weak hashing | Use Argon2id or bcrypt | | Math.random for tokens | Predictable values | Use crypto.getRandomValues |


Incident Response Workflow

Respond to and contain security incidents.

Workflow: Handle Security Incident

  1. Identify and triage:
    • Validate incident is genuine
    • Assess initial scope and severity
    • Activate incident response team
  2. Contain the threat:
    • Isolate affected systems
    • Block malicious IPs/accounts
    • Disable compromised credentials
  3. Eradicate root cause:
    • Remove malware/backdoors
    • Patch vulnerabilities
    • Update configurations
  4. Recover operations:
    • Restore from clean backups
    • Verify system integrity
    • Monitor for recurrence
  5. Conduct post-mortem:
    • Timeline reconstruction
    • Root cause analysis
    • Lessons learned
  6. Implement improvements:
    • Update detection rules
    • Enhance controls
    • Update runbooks
  7. Document and report
  8. Validation: Threat contained; root cause eliminated; systems recovered; post-mortem complete; improvements implemented

Incident Severity Levels

| Level | Description | Response Time | Escalation | |-------|-------------|---------------|------------| | P1 - Critical | Active breach, data exfiltration | Immediate | CISO, Legal, Executive | | P2 - High | Confirmed compromise, contained | 1 hour | Security Lead, IT Director | | P3 - Medium | Potential compromise, under investigation | 4 hours | Security Team | | P4 - Low | Suspicious activity, low impact | 24 hours | On-call engineer |

Incident Response Checklist

| Phase | Actions | |-------|---------| | Identification | Validate alert, assess scope, determine severity | | Containment | Isolate systems, preserve evidence, block access | | Eradication | Remove threat, patch vulnerabilities, reset credentials | | Recovery | Restore services, verify integrity, increase monitoring | | Lessons Learned | Document timeline, identify gaps, update procedures |


Security Tools Reference

Recommended Security Tools

| Category | Tools | |----------|-------| | SAST | Semgrep, CodeQL, Bandit (Python), ESLint security plugins | | DAST | OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite, Nikto | | Dependency Scanning | Snyk, Dependabot, npm audit, pip-audit | | Secret Detection | GitLeaks, TruffleHog, detect-secrets | | Container Security | Trivy, Clair, Anchore | | Infrastructure | Checkov, tfsec, ScoutSuite | | Network | Wireshark, Nmap, Masscan | | Penetration | Metasploit, sqlmap, Burp Suite Pro |

Cryptographic Algorithm Selection

| Use Case | Algorithm | Key Size | |----------|-----------|----------| | Symmetric encryption | AES-256-GCM | 256 bits | | Password hashing | Argon2id | N/A (use defaults) | | Message authentication | HMAC-SHA256 | 256 bits | | Digital signatures | Ed25519 | 256 bits | | Key exchange | X25519 | 256 bits | | TLS | TLS 1.3 | N/A |

See: references/cryptography-implementation.md


Tools and References

Scripts

| Script | Purpose | Usage | |--------|---------|-------| | threat_modeler.py | STRIDE threat analysis with risk scoring | python threat_modeler.py --component "Authentication" | | secret_scanner.py | Detect hardcoded secrets and credentials | python secret_scanner.py /path/to/project |

Threat Modeler Features:

  • STRIDE analysis for any system component
  • DREAD risk scoring
  • Mitigation recommendations
  • JSON and text output formats
  • Interactive mode for guided analysis

Secret Scanner Features:

  • Detects AWS, GCP, Azure credentials
  • Finds API keys and tokens (GitHub, Slack, Stripe)
  • Identifies private keys and passwords
  • Supports 20+ secret patterns
  • CI/CD integration ready

References

| Document | Content | |----------|---------| | security-architecture-patterns.md | Zero Trust, defense-in-depth, authentication patterns, API security | | threat-modeling-guide.md | STRIDE methodology, attack trees, DREAD scoring, DFD creation | | cryptography-implementation.md | AES-GCM, RSA, Ed25519, password hashing, key management |


Security Standards Reference

Compliance Frameworks

| Framework | Focus | Applicable To | |-----------|-------|---------------| | OWASP ASVS | Application security | Web applications | | CIS Benchmarks | System hardening | Servers, containers, cloud | | NIST CSF | Risk management | Enterprise security programs | | PCI-DSS | Payment card data | Payment processing | | HIPAA | Healthcare data | Healthcare applications | | SOC 2 | Service organization controls | SaaS providers |

Security Headers Checklist

| Header | Recommended Value | |--------|-------------------| | Content-Security-Policy | default-src self; script-src self | | X-Frame-Options | DENY | | X-Content-Type-Options | nosniff | | Strict-Transport-Security | max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains | | Referrer-Policy | strict-origin-when-cross-origin | | Permissions-Policy | geolocation=(), microphone=(), camera=() |


Related Skills

| Skill | Integration Point | |-------|-------------------| | senior-devops | CI/CD security, infrastructure hardening | | senior-secops | Security monitoring, incident response | | senior-backend | Secure API development | | senior-architect | Security architecture decisions |

Senior Security Engineer Skill | Agent Skills