SA-8(1)—Security and Privacy Engineering Principles | Clear Abstractions
>Control Description
>DoD Impact Level Requirements
No specific parameter values or requirements for this impact level.
>Discussion
The principle of clear abstractions states that a system has simple, well-defined interfaces and functions that provide a consistent and intuitive view of the data and how the data is managed. The clarity, simplicity, necessity, and sufficiency of the system interfaces-- combined with a precise definition of their functional behavior--promotes ease of analysis, inspection, and testing as well as the correct and secure use of the system. The clarity of an abstraction is subjective.
Examples that reflect the application of this principle include avoidance of redundant, unused interfaces; information hiding; and avoidance of semantic overloading of interfaces or their parameters. Information hiding (i.e., representation-independent programming), is a design discipline used to ensure that the internal representation of information in one system component is not visible to another system component invoking or calling the first component, such that the published abstraction is not influenced by how the data may be managed internally.
>Assessment Interview Topics
Questions assessors commonly ask
Process & Governance:
- •What acquisition policies and procedures address the requirements of SA-8(1)?
- •How are security and privacy requirements integrated into the acquisition process?
- •Who is responsible for ensuring that acquisitions comply with SA-8(1)?
Technical Implementation:
- •How are security requirements defined and documented in acquisition contracts?
- •What mechanisms ensure that acquired systems and services meet security requirements?
- •How do you validate that vendors and service providers comply with specified security controls?
Evidence & Documentation:
- •Can you provide examples of acquisition documentation that includes security requirements?
- •What evidence demonstrates that acquired systems meet security specifications?
- •Where is acquisition security documentation maintained throughout the system lifecycle?
Ask AI
Configure your API key to use AI features.