Distrust
Distrust is a fundamental security principle in computing that emphasizes designing systems with the assumption that components, users, or external entities may be malicious, compromised, or unreliable. It involves implementing measures such as verification, isolation, and least privilege to mitigate risks and prevent failures from propagating. This concept is central to secure architecture, often applied in areas like network security, software development, and distributed systems.
Developers should learn and apply distrust principles when building systems that handle sensitive data, operate in untrusted environments (e.g., cloud or public networks), or require high reliability, as it helps prevent security breaches, data leaks, and system failures. Specific use cases include designing microservices with mutual TLS authentication, implementing input validation in web applications to thwart attacks, and creating sandboxed environments for running untrusted code.