DOCU-05

Can you provide overall system and/or application architecture diagrams, including a full description of the data flow for all components of the system?

Explanation

This question is asking whether you can provide comprehensive documentation of your system's architecture, including visual diagrams and detailed explanations of how data flows through all parts of your system. System and application architecture diagrams are visual representations that show the structure of your IT environment, including hardware components, software applications, networks, and how they all connect and interact. The data flow description explains how information moves through these components - where it enters the system, how it's processed, stored, and accessed, and where it exits. This question is being asked in a security assessment for several important reasons: 1. Understanding attack surface: Reviewers need to see all components that could potentially be vulnerable to attack. 2. Evaluating security controls: The diagrams help identify where sensitive data exists and whether appropriate security measures are in place at each point. 3. Assessing data protection: By understanding how data flows through the system, reviewers can determine if data is properly protected both in transit and at rest. 4. Identifying integration points: External connections and APIs represent potential security boundaries that need special attention. 5. Verifying compliance: Architecture documentation helps verify that the system design follows security best practices and regulatory requirements. To best answer this question: - Provide clear, up-to-date diagrams that show all major components of your system - Include both high-level overviews and more detailed component-specific diagrams - Clearly mark where sensitive data is stored or processed - Document all data flows, especially across trust boundaries (e.g., from internal to external systems) - Include details on encryption, authentication mechanisms, and other security controls - Make sure diagrams are accurate and reflect the current state of your system - Consider using standard notation like UML or other widely recognized diagramming conventions

Example Responses

Example Response 1

Yes, we can provide comprehensive system architecture documentation We maintain up-to-date diagrams in both high-level and detailed formats using the C4 model (Context, Containers, Components, Code) Our documentation includes network topology diagrams showing all infrastructure components, application architecture diagrams detailing the relationships between services, and data flow diagrams that trace how information moves through our system These diagrams clearly identify all data stores, processing points, and integration with third-party services We also maintain documentation on encryption methods used for data in transit and at rest, authentication mechanisms, and access control systems All diagrams are reviewed quarterly to ensure accuracy and are available in both PDF and editable Visio formats We can provide these under NDA as part of the assessment process.

Example Response 2

Yes, we maintain detailed architecture documentation for our cloud-based SaaS platform Our documentation includes AWS infrastructure diagrams showing all services used (EC2, RDS, S3, etc.), network segmentation with security groups and VPCs, and application layer diagrams showing our microservices architecture For data flows, we have comprehensive documentation showing how customer data enters our system through our API gateway, how it's processed by various microservices, where it's stored, and how it's accessed by authorized users The documentation highlights encryption methods (TLS 1.3 for transit, AES-256 for storage), authentication flows using OAuth 2.0, and our implementation of least privilege access controls We update these diagrams monthly as part of our change management process and can share them in a secure document repository after executing an NDA.

Example Response 3

We currently have basic network diagrams that show our main servers and network connections, but we don't maintain comprehensive application architecture or data flow documentation Our system has evolved organically over the years, and while our development team understands how components interact, we haven't formalized this into detailed diagrams We recognize this as a gap in our documentation practices and have initiated a project to create proper architecture documentation, including data flow diagrams We expect to have initial versions completed within the next quarter In the meantime, we can provide our existing network diagrams and verbal explanations of data flows during assessment meetings, but acknowledge these don't meet the full requirements of comprehensive architecture documentation.

Context

Tab: Organization
Category: Documentation