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### Outcome Oriented Security - RubyConf AU 2014

In this presentation, Eleanor Saitta, a commercial security consultant, discusses the significance of high-level concepts in security, particularly focusing on security architecture and user-centric security strategies in the software development process. She reflects on her transition towards emphasizing security for high-risk users and challenges the misconception that having no obvious low-level vulnerabilities implies a secure system.

#### Key Points Discussed:
- **Definition of Security**: Security is defined not just by the absence of specific bugs (e.g., cross-site scripting, SQL injections) but by the capability of users to achieve their goals amidst potential threats.
- **Importance of Security Objectives**: Security objectives articulate what matters in terms of application requirements. Writing these objectives down is vital to guide the development process effectively.
- **Threat Modeling**: The construction of a threat model provides a structured way to analyze human activities and security relevant features of the system. It serves to transparently define threats and necessary security responses.
- **Process of Threat Modeling**: Saitta outlines a six-step iterative process to develop a threat model, which includes identifying actors, assets, actions, threats, and security objectives, thereby visualizing the data flow within the application.
- **Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) Analysis**: This encourages proactive questioning of potential failures at every step in a system’s processes, allowing identification of security weaknesses.
- **High-Risk User Engagement**: A deeper understanding of the unique security needs of high-risk users plays a crucial role in building secure applications. These users often face various challenges, hence developers should create intuitive security mechanisms that accommodate these situations. 
- **Evolving Security Norms**: The talk stresses that traditional audit and compliance measures are insufficient—security design must be proactive and holistic, engaging all stakeholders to improve system resilience.

#### Conclusions and Takeaways:
- Developers carry the responsibility of instilling a security-conscious culture within their teams while actively involving users in the design process to better meet their security needs.
- Systems must not only be functional but should also consider usability in security tools to ensure overall effectiveness.
- Collaboration across various perspectives within the security community is essential to foster an inclusive environment that adequately addresses the diverse needs of users.

The presentation concludes with a call for reflection on inclusivity within the community to enhance collective understanding of users' needs in the ever-evolving technological landscape.

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