To get the most out of this book

To be as practical in our approach as possible, we've made a few assumptions about the reader, their skill level, and their needs. First, we assume that the reader will know the basics of cybersecurity (information security), such as having a working knowledge of common security controls. Second, we assume a baseline of enterprise technology knowledge.

We've also assumed that the organization in which the reader will be applying the techniques we discuss is like most: one that could benefit from increased architectural rigor but where rigor itself is not an end goal. Larger organizations that systematically follow a highly rigorous process – or service providers with contractual requirements to do so – will find that we have scaled back or streamlined some elements of processes to make them accessible and achievable for smaller teams. In general, we have stated explicitly where, how, and why we have made these changes in the sections where we do so.

Lastly, we suggest (but it is not required) that readers have one or more active "problems" that they can apply the techniques in this book to, meaning that they can apply the process sequentially as they learn it to the real-world challenges in their job. Being able to apply the concepts directly helps ensure that the principles are retained.