CSA CCM Compliance – SEF-01
Secure Engineering Principles for Cloud Services
What is CSA CCM SEF-01?
The CSA Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) SEF-01 control focuses on Secure Engineering Principles for cloud services.
It requires organizations to design, develop, and maintain applications with built-in security to prevent vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and unauthorized access throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
Key SEF-01 requirements:
- Secure Design: Embed security principles in system and application architecture.
- Least Privilege: Apply RBAC and restrict access to only what is necessary.
- Secure Coding Practices: Prevent vulnerabilities such as injection, XSS, and insecure APIs.
- Configuration Management: Secure application and infrastructure configurations.
- Security Testing: Regularly test for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.
- Auditability: Log all access, configuration changes, and security-relevant events.
How Visual Guard facilitates SEF-01 compliance:
Application-level RBAC:
Secure applications using role-based access controls without modifying application source code.
Centralized IAM integration:
Enforce identity and access controls consistently during development and deployment stages.
Granular security policies:
Define access rights down to individual data fields, functions, or services.
Audit and traceability:
Track access, configuration changes, and critical operations through audit logs.
Secure configuration enforcement:
Apply consistent IAM and access rules across development, testing, and production environments.
Support for DevSecOps:
Integrate security and IAM policies directly into CI/CD pipelines.
Detailed technical capabilities
Application Security Controls
- Role-based security applied at UI, service, and data levels
- Policy-driven configuration management for secure defaults
Audit & Compliance
- Immutable and exportable audit logs
- Automated compliance and access reviews
Monitoring & Enforcement
- Real-time monitoring with alerts for policy violations
DevSecOps Integration
- Integration with CI/CD tools for security automation
Use case
Embedding secure IAM into cloud-native application development
A financial technology firm must follow SEF-01 by embedding secure engineering principles into its development lifecycle for cloud-hosted applications.
How Visual Guard helped:
- Enforced role-based policies across development, test, and production stages.
- Provided immutable logs supporting security testing and audit verification.
- Secured APIs and microservices using fine-grained access controls.
- Integrated IAM enforcement into CI/CD pipelines for continuous compliance.
Result: The fintech company embedded secure engineering principles into its development lifecycle and demonstrated compliance with CSA CCM SEF-01.