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BUSINESS POSTURE

  • Business Priorities and Goals:
    • Goal: Efficiently manage and track employee skills within the organization.
    • Goal: Provide a centralized platform for employees to self-report and update their skills.
    • Goal: Enable managers and HR to identify skill gaps, plan training, and optimize workforce allocation based on skills.
    • Priority: Data accuracy and reliability to ensure informed decision-making.
    • Priority: Service availability and performance to support daily operations.
    • Priority: Data confidentiality and integrity, given the sensitive nature of employee information and organizational skills data.
  • Business Risks:
    • Risk: Inaccurate or outdated skills data leading to inefficient resource allocation and poor decision-making.
    • Risk: Unauthorized access to sensitive employee skills data, potentially leading to privacy violations or misuse of information.
    • Risk: Service unavailability disrupting HR processes, workforce planning, and potentially impacting project staffing.
    • Risk: Data loss or corruption affecting the integrity of skills records and impacting trust in the system.
    • Risk: Compliance violations related to data privacy regulations if employee data is mishandled.

SECURITY POSTURE

  • Existing Security Controls:
    • security control: Access control to the GitHub repository is likely managed through GitHub's role-based access control (RBAC). (Implemented in: GitHub repository settings)
    • security control: Code review process likely exists as part of the development workflow, although not explicitly stated in the input. (Implemented in: Development workflow - assumed)
    • security control: Static code analysis and linting might be used during development, although not explicitly stated. (Implemented in: Development workflow - assumed)
    • security control: Deployment infrastructure security controls are assumed to be in place, depending on the target environment (cloud or on-premise). (Implemented in: Deployment environment - assumed)
  • Accepted Risks:
    • accepted risk: Potential vulnerabilities in third-party libraries used by the project, with reliance on community updates and patching.
    • accepted risk: Risk of insider threats, mitigated by background checks and access controls, but not fully eliminated.
    • accepted risk: Some level of performance overhead due to security controls, balanced against the need for security.
  • Recommended Security Controls:
    • security control: Implement automated Security Scanning in CI/CD pipeline (SAST, DAST, Dependency Scanning) to identify vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle.
    • security control: Implement robust Input Validation and Output Encoding to prevent common web application vulnerabilities like Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) and SQL Injection.
    • security control: Implement centralized logging and security monitoring to detect and respond to security incidents effectively.
    • security control: Implement regular security penetration testing to identify and address vulnerabilities in the deployed application.
    • security control: Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect against common web attacks.
    • security control: Implement database encryption at rest and in transit to protect sensitive skills data.
    • security control: Implement strong password policies and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for user accounts.
  • Security Requirements:
    • Authentication:
      • Requirement: Securely authenticate users accessing the skills service.
      • Requirement: Support for organizational authentication mechanisms (e.g., LDAP, Active Directory, SAML).
      • Requirement: Implement session management to maintain user sessions securely.
    • Authorization:
      • Requirement: Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to manage user permissions.
      • Requirement: Define roles such as Employee, Manager, HR, Administrator with appropriate access levels.
      • Requirement: Enforce authorization checks for all sensitive operations and data access.
    • Input Validation:
      • Requirement: Validate all user inputs to prevent injection attacks (e.g., SQL injection, XSS, command injection).
      • Requirement: Implement input validation on both client-side and server-side.
      • Requirement: Sanitize and encode user inputs before displaying them in the application.
    • Cryptography:
      • Requirement: Protect sensitive data at rest and in transit using strong encryption algorithms.
      • Requirement: Securely store and manage cryptographic keys.
      • Requirement: Use HTTPS for all communication to protect data in transit.
      • Requirement: Consider encrypting sensitive data fields in the database.

DESIGN

C4 CONTEXT

graph LR
    subgraph "Organization"
        SkillsService["Skills Service System" \n Type: Software System \n Description: Manages employee skills"]
    end
    Employees["Employees" \n Type: Person \n Description: Users who update and view their skills"]
    Managers["Managers" \n Type: Person \n Description: Users who manage team skills and plan training"]
    HRSystem["HR System" \n Type: Software System \n Description: Existing HR system for employee data"]
    AuthService["Authentication Service" \n Type: Software System \n Description: Organizational authentication service (e.g., LDAP, Active Directory)"]
    ReportingAnalytics["Reporting & Analytics System" \n Type: Software System \n Description: System for generating reports and analytics on skills data"]

    Employees --> SkillsService
    Managers --> SkillsService
    SkillsService --> HRSystem
    SkillsService --> AuthService
    SkillsService --> ReportingAnalytics
    style SkillsService fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
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  • Context Diagram Elements:
    • Element:
      • Name: Skills Service System
      • Type: Software System
      • Description: The skills service application being designed to manage employee skills.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Allow employees to input and update their skills.
        • Allow managers and HR to view and analyze skills data.
        • Integrate with other organizational systems.
      • Security controls:
        • Access control based on user roles.
        • Input validation and output encoding.
        • Audit logging of user actions.
    • Element:
      • Name: Employees
      • Type: Person
      • Description: Organizational employees who use the system to manage their skills profiles.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Maintain accurate and up-to-date skills information in the system.
        • View their own skills profile and potentially skills of team members (depending on authorization).
      • Security controls:
        • Strong password or multi-factor authentication for account access.
    • Element:
      • Name: Managers
      • Type: Person
      • Description: Managers within the organization who use the system to view team skills, identify skill gaps, and plan training.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Review team skills data.
        • Identify skill gaps within their teams.
        • Plan training and development activities based on skills data.
      • Security controls:
        • Role-based access control to view team skills data.
    • Element:
      • Name: HR System
      • Type: Software System
      • Description: Existing Human Resources system that may contain employee data that needs to be integrated with the skills service.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Provide employee data (e.g., employee ID, department) to the Skills Service.
        • Potentially receive skills data from the Skills Service for HR reporting.
      • Security controls:
        • Secure API communication between Skills Service and HR System (e.g., API keys, mutual TLS).
        • Data validation and sanitization during data exchange.
    • Element:
      • Name: Authentication Service
      • Type: Software System
      • Description: Organizational authentication service (e.g., LDAP, Active Directory, SAML) used to authenticate users of the Skills Service.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Authenticate users attempting to access the Skills Service.
        • Provide user identity information to the Skills Service.
      • Security controls:
        • Secure authentication protocols (e.g., OAuth 2.0, SAML).
        • Strong password policies and multi-factor authentication enforced by the Authentication Service.
    • Element:
      • Name: Reporting & Analytics System
      • Type: Software System
      • Description: System used to generate reports and perform analytics on the skills data collected by the Skills Service.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Consume skills data from the Skills Service.
        • Generate reports and dashboards on skills data.
        • Provide insights into organizational skills landscape.
      • Security controls:
        • Secure API communication to access skills data (e.g., API keys, role-based access).
        • Access control to reports and analytics based on user roles.

C4 CONTAINER

graph LR
    subgraph "Skills Service System"
        SkillsWebApp["Skills Web Application" \n Type: Web Application \n Description: Frontend for user interaction (e.g., React, Angular)"]
        SkillsAPI["Skills API" \n Type: API Application \n Description: Backend REST API (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js)"]
        SkillsDatabase["Skills Database" \n Type: Database \n Description: Persistent storage for skills data (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL)"]
    end
    Employees --> SkillsWebApp
    Managers --> SkillsWebApp
    SkillsWebApp --> SkillsAPI
    SkillsAPI --> SkillsDatabase
    SkillsAPI --> AuthService
    SkillsAPI --> HRSystem
    SkillsAPI --> ReportingAnalytics
    style SkillsServiceSystem fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style SkillsWebApp fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style SkillsAPI fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style SkillsDatabase fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
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  • Container Diagram Elements:
    • Element:
      • Name: Skills Web Application
      • Type: Web Application
      • Description: Frontend web application providing user interface for employees and managers to interact with the Skills Service. Likely built using modern JavaScript framework (e.g., React, Angular, Vue.js).
      • Responsibilities:
        • Present user interface for skill management.
        • Handle user interactions and input.
        • Communicate with the Skills API to fetch and update data.
        • Client-side input validation and UI rendering.
      • Security controls:
        • Input validation and output encoding to prevent XSS.
        • Secure handling of user sessions and cookies.
        • Protection against CSRF attacks.
    • Element:
      • Name: Skills API
      • Type: API Application
      • Description: Backend REST API application responsible for business logic, data access, and communication with other systems. Likely built using a backend framework (e.g., Java Spring, Python Django/Flask, Node.js Express).
      • Responsibilities:
        • Implement business logic for skill management.
        • Authenticate and authorize user requests.
        • Access and manipulate data in the Skills Database.
        • Integrate with Authentication Service, HR System, and Reporting & Analytics System.
        • Server-side input validation and data processing.
      • Security controls:
        • Authentication and authorization of API requests.
        • Input validation and sanitization to prevent injection attacks.
        • Secure API endpoints (HTTPS).
        • Rate limiting and API security best practices.
        • Centralized logging and security monitoring.
    • Element:
      • Name: Skills Database
      • Type: Database
      • Description: Persistent database to store skills data, user profiles, and other application data. Could be a relational database (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL) or a NoSQL database depending on data model and requirements.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Persistently store skills data.
        • Provide data access and retrieval for the Skills API.
        • Ensure data integrity and availability.
      • Security controls:
        • Database access control and user permissions.
        • Database encryption at rest and in transit.
        • Regular database backups and disaster recovery.
        • Database vulnerability scanning and patching.

DEPLOYMENT

  • Deployment Options:

    • Option 1: Cloud Deployment (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) using managed services like Kubernetes, managed databases, and load balancers.
    • Option 2: On-Premise Deployment on virtual machines or physical servers within the organization's data center.
    • Option 3: Hybrid Deployment, combining on-premise and cloud components.

  • Selected Deployment Architecture: Cloud Deployment (Option 1 - assuming modern cloud-native approach)

graph LR
    subgraph "Cloud Provider (e.g., AWS)"
        subgraph "Kubernetes Cluster"
            SkillsWebAppInstance["Skills Web App Instance" \n Type: Container"]
            SkillsAPIInstance["Skills API Instance" \n Type: Container"]
        end
        LoadBalancer["Load Balancer" \n Type: Load Balancer"]
        ManagedDatabase["Managed Skills Database" \n Type: Managed Database Service"]
        subgraph "Network"
            Firewall["Cloud Firewall" \n Type: Firewall"]
        end
    end
    Employees -- HTTPS --> LoadBalancer
    Managers -- HTTPS --> LoadBalancer
    LoadBalancer -- HTTP --> SkillsWebAppInstance
    SkillsWebAppInstance -- HTTP --> SkillsAPIInstance
    SkillsAPIInstance -- Database Protocol --> ManagedDatabase
    Firewall -- Network Traffic --> Kubernetes Cluster
    style CloudProvider fill:#eef,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    style KubernetesCluster fill:#cef,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style SkillsWebAppInstance fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style SkillsAPIInstance fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style ManagedDatabase fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style LoadBalancer fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style Firewall fill:#fcf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
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  • Deployment Diagram Elements:
    • Element:
      • Name: Cloud Provider (e.g., AWS)
      • Type: Cloud Environment
      • Description: Cloud infrastructure provider hosting the Skills Service.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Provide underlying infrastructure (compute, storage, network).
        • Manage Kubernetes cluster and managed services.
        • Ensure physical security and availability of the infrastructure.
      • Security controls:
        • Physical security of data centers.
        • Network security controls at the cloud provider level.
        • Compliance certifications (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001).
    • Element:
      • Name: Kubernetes Cluster
      • Type: Container Orchestration Platform
      • Description: Kubernetes cluster used to orchestrate and manage containerized instances of the Skills Web App and Skills API.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Deploy and manage containerized applications.
        • Scale application instances based on demand.
        • Provide service discovery and load balancing within the cluster.
      • Security controls:
        • Kubernetes RBAC for cluster access control.
        • Network policies to isolate namespaces and services.
        • Container security scanning and vulnerability management.
    • Element:
      • Name: Skills Web App Instance
      • Type: Container
      • Description: Containerized instance of the Skills Web Application running within the Kubernetes cluster.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Serve the frontend web application to users.
        • Handle user requests and communicate with the Skills API.
      • Security controls:
        • Container image security scanning.
        • Resource limits and quotas to prevent resource exhaustion.
    • Element:
      • Name: Skills API Instance
      • Type: Container
      • Description: Containerized instance of the Skills API running within the Kubernetes cluster.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Process API requests from the Skills Web App.
        • Interact with the Skills Database.
        • Enforce business logic and security policies.
      • Security controls:
        • Container image security scanning.
        • Resource limits and quotas.
        • API security controls (authentication, authorization, rate limiting).
    • Element:
      • Name: Managed Skills Database
      • Type: Managed Database Service
      • Description: Managed database service provided by the cloud provider (e.g., AWS RDS, Azure Database for PostgreSQL) used for persistent data storage.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Store and manage skills data.
        • Provide database availability, scalability, and backups.
      • Security controls:
        • Database access control and encryption provided by the managed service.
        • Regular security patching and updates by the cloud provider.
    • Element:
      • Name: Load Balancer
      • Type: Load Balancer
      • Description: Cloud load balancer distributing incoming user traffic across multiple instances of the Skills Web App.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Distribute traffic evenly across web application instances.
        • Provide high availability and fault tolerance.
        • Terminate TLS/SSL connections.
      • Security controls:
        • TLS/SSL termination and encryption.
        • DDoS protection.
        • Access control lists (ACLs).
    • Element:
      • Name: Cloud Firewall
      • Type: Firewall
      • Description: Cloud firewall controlling network traffic in and out of the Kubernetes cluster and other cloud resources.
      • Responsibilities:
        • Filter network traffic based on defined rules.
        • Protect the application from network-based attacks.
        • Enforce network segmentation.
      • Security controls:
        • Network access control lists (ACLs).
        • Intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS) capabilities.

BUILD

graph LR
    Developer["Developer" \n Type: Person"] --> CodeRepository["Code Repository (GitHub)" \n Type: Software System"];
    CodeRepository --> CI_CD_Pipeline["CI/CD Pipeline (GitHub Actions)" \n Type: Software System"];
    CI_CD_Pipeline --> BuildArtifacts["Build Artifacts (Container Images)" \n Type: Artifact Repository"];
    BuildArtifacts --> DeploymentEnvironment["Deployment Environment (Kubernetes)" \n Type: Environment"];
    subgraph "CI/CD Pipeline Steps"
        Linting["Linting & Formatting" \n Type: Step"];
        SAST["Static Analysis Security Testing (SAST)" \n Type: Step"];
        UnitTest["Unit Tests" \n Type: Step"];
        DependencyScan["Dependency Scanning" \n Type: Step"];
        BuildImage["Build Container Image" \n Type: Step"];
        PushImage["Push Image to Registry" \n Type: Step"];
    end
    CI_CD_Pipeline --> Linting;
    CI_CD_Pipeline --> SAST;
    CI_CD_Pipeline --> UnitTest;
    CI_CD_Pipeline --> DependencyScan;
    CI_CD_Pipeline --> BuildImage;
    CI_CD_Pipeline --> PushImage;
    Linting --> SAST --> UnitTest --> DependencyScan --> BuildImage --> PushImage
    style CI_CD_Pipeline fill:#ccf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
    style CI_CD_Pipeline_Steps fill:#eef,stroke:#333,stroke-width:1px
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  • Build Process Description:
    • Developers commit code changes to the Code Repository (GitHub).
    • CI/CD Pipeline (GitHub Actions assumed) is triggered on code commits or pull requests.
    • CI/CD Pipeline performs the following steps:
      • Linting & Formatting: Code is checked for style and formatting issues.
      • Static Analysis Security Testing (SAST): SAST tools scan the code for potential security vulnerabilities.
      • Unit Tests: Unit tests are executed to ensure code functionality.
      • Dependency Scanning: Dependencies are scanned for known vulnerabilities.
      • Build Container Image: Container images for Skills Web App and Skills API are built.
      • Push Image to Registry: Built container images are pushed to a container registry.
    • Build Artifacts (Container Images) are stored in the container registry.
    • Deployment Environment (Kubernetes) pulls the latest container images from the registry for deployment.
  • Build Process Security Controls:
    • security control: Code Repository Access Control: Access to the code repository is controlled using GitHub's RBAC.
    • security control: Branch Protection: Branch protection rules are enforced to require code reviews and prevent direct commits to main branches.
    • security control: CI/CD Pipeline Automation: Automated CI/CD pipeline ensures consistent and repeatable builds.
    • security control: Static Analysis Security Testing (SAST): SAST tools integrated into the pipeline identify potential vulnerabilities in the code.
    • security control: Dependency Scanning: Dependency scanning tools identify vulnerabilities in third-party libraries.
    • security control: Container Image Scanning: Container images are scanned for vulnerabilities before deployment.
    • security control: Secure Build Environment: CI/CD pipeline runs in a secure environment with controlled access.
    • security control: Artifact Repository Access Control: Access to the container registry is controlled to prevent unauthorized access to build artifacts.
    • security control: Code Signing (optional): Consider signing container images to ensure integrity and authenticity.

RISK ASSESSMENT

  • Critical Business Processes:
    • Skills Management: Maintaining accurate and up-to-date employee skills data is critical for workforce planning, training, and project staffing.
    • Workforce Planning: Utilizing skills data for effective workforce planning and resource allocation is essential for organizational efficiency.
    • Training and Development: Identifying skill gaps and planning targeted training programs based on skills data is important for employee development and organizational capability.
  • Data Sensitivity:
    • Employee Skills Data: Skills data itself might be considered moderately sensitive, as it reflects employee capabilities and potential.
    • Employee Personal Information: Integration with HR systems might involve access to employee personal information, which is highly sensitive and subject to privacy regulations.
    • Access Logs and Audit Trails: Logs containing user access and actions are moderately sensitive and important for security monitoring and incident response.
    • Sensitivity Level: Overall data sensitivity is considered Moderate to High, depending on the specific data elements and organizational context.

QUESTIONS & ASSUMPTIONS

  • Questions:
    • What is the target deployment environment (cloud provider, on-premise)?
    • What specific technologies are planned for the frontend (e.g., React, Angular, Vue.js) and backend (e.g., Java, Python, Node.js)?
    • What type of database is intended to be used (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL, NoSQL)?
    • What organizational authentication service will be integrated (e.g., LDAP, Active Directory, SAML)?
    • What are the specific data privacy regulations that need to be complied with?
    • What is the organization's risk appetite and security maturity level?
    • Are there any existing security policies or standards that the project must adhere to?
    • What is the expected scale and performance requirements for the Skills Service?
  • Assumptions:
    • BUSINESS POSTURE:
      • The primary goal is to improve organizational efficiency through better skills management.
      • Data accuracy and service availability are high priorities.
      • Data confidentiality is important due to the nature of employee information.
    • SECURITY POSTURE:
      • Security is a significant concern for the organization.
      • Standard secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC) practices are expected.
      • Cloud deployment environment is assumed, implying shared responsibility security model.
    • DESIGN:
      • A modern web application architecture with a separate frontend and backend API is assumed.
      • Containerization and Kubernetes are used for deployment and orchestration.
      • Cloud-managed services are preferred for database and infrastructure components.
      • RESTful API communication between frontend and backend is assumed.