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Case 1787CB · GRC · L3 Applied

Running a Security Architecture Review

Practise as: Explain it · Interview · Deep diveLevel: L3 Applied

Interview questionA team brings you a design for review a month before launch. What do you look at, and what do you hand back?

  1. 01 What is it?
  2. 02 How is it abused?
  3. 03 How do you stop it?
What a strong answer covers

Try it out loud first. Then check yourself:

  1. Map the data: what is collected, how sensitive it is, where it flows and is stored, and who can reach it.
  2. Check identity and access end to end: user auth, service-to-service auth, admin paths, and how secrets are issued and rotated.
  3. Look at failure and abuse: trust boundaries, third parties, logging for investigations, and blast radius if one part is compromised.
  4. Return risk-rated findings with a recommended fix and an owner, separating launch blockers from follow-ups.

If the interviewer pushes back

  • The team disagrees with a launch blocker and the deadline is fixed. How do you handle it?

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Reviewed 2026-10-09