Vol 8: Security and Cryptography

Cryptography, login, authorization, and input handling solve different problems. Encrypting data does not also decide who may read it. This volume follows those foundations into hosts, networks, privacy, and supply chains, asking what needs protection, how it could fail, and how to check the defense. “Should be secure” expresses a hope; the test still needs writing.

Prerequisites

• Be able to read and write small programs and understand HTTP requests, file access, and user identity. Consult Volume 1 and Volume 4 as needed.
• Host and pipeline chapters use terminal commands, process permissions, and build and release concepts from Volume 0 and Volume 3. The cryptographic engineering lessons do not require prior proofs of the algorithms.

Coverage

Chapters 1–4 cover cryptography, certificates, identity, and Web input boundaries. Chapters 5–6 address host and network defenses. Chapters 7–10 apply controls to development, privacy, pipelines, and software supply chains.

Chapter 1

• 1.1 Symmetric Cryptography Engineering: AEAD, Nonce, and Key Lifecycle
• 1.2 Hashes, MACs, KDFs, and Password Storage
• 1.3 Public-Key Cryptography: Key Exchange, Signing, and Post-Quantum Migration

Chapter 2

• 2.1 X.509 and PKI: Certificate Chains, Service Identity, and Revocation
• 2.2 TLS 1.3 and Certificate Automation: From Handshake to Rotation

Chapter 3

• 3.1 User Authentication: Passwords, Passkeys, Sessions, and Account Recovery
• 3.2 OAuth 2.0 and OIDC: Delegated Authorization and Login
• 3.3 Authorization Models: RBAC, ABAC, ReBAC, and Resource-Level Checks

Chapter 4

• 4.1 Browser Security Boundaries: Same-Origin Policy, XSS, and CSP
• 4.2 Server-Side Input Boundaries: Injection, Paths, and File Handling
• 4.3 Cross-Boundary Requests: CSRF, CORS, and SSRF

Chapter 5

• 5.1 Linux Process Permissions: UID, Capabilities, and Privilege Separation
• 5.2 Linux Layered Isolation: MAC, seccomp, and Host Hardening

Chapter 6

• 6.1 Network Boundary: Traffic Inventory, Segmentation, and Egress Control
• 6.2 Secure Connections: VPN, Workload Identity, and Zero Trust
• 6.3 Network Detection and Resilience: IDS, Traffic Analysis, and DDoS

Chapter 7

• 7.1 Security Design: Requirements, Threat Modeling, and Verifiable Controls
• 7.2 Security Verification and Vulnerability Response: From Detection to Root Cause Closure

Chapter 8

• 8.1 Privacy Engineering: Data Purpose, Minimization, and Lifecycle
• 8.2 De-identification and Privacy Risks: Pseudonymity, Anonymity, and Differential Privacy

Chapter 9

• 9.1 DevSecOps Pipeline: Signals, Gates, and Artifact Promotion
• 9.2 Pipeline Control Plane: Short-Lived Identity, Policy as Code, and Runtime Feedback

Chapter 10

• 10.1 Dependencies and SBOM: Knowing What's Inside an Artifact
• 10.2 Build Provenance and SLSA 1.2
• 10.3 Artifact Signing and Release Verification: From Identity to Admission Policies

Outcomes

• Distinguish encryption, signatures, authentication, and authorization, and identify checks for keys, sessions, and resource access.
• Follow inputs and data flows across trust boundaries and choose ways to verify common Web, file, and process defenses.
• Assess whether a control addresses its stated threat, and retain evidence for dependencies, artifacts, privacy, and vulnerability response.

How to use this map

Read in order to build the concepts. For a system review, first list its assets, actors, and data flows, then choose the relevant chapters. Work through failure cases and completion checks, paying attention to the examples’ assumptions. For algorithms, standards, and product settings, use the references on each page to check the version you use.