Security audit standards and patterns

Pega Platform has enterprise-grade monitoring and logging features that integrate with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems to create a comprehensive security monitoring ecosystem. Application Architects use these features to design secure applications, configure monitoring, and ensure integration with SIEM tools for real-time threat detection.

Pegasystems enforces Engineering Security Standards (ESS) across all of its software, whether cloud-deployed or on-premises. These standards integrate with the Digital Security Program (DSP) and mandate endpoint security (for example, secure device configurations), least functionality principles (for example, disabling unnecessary services), and proactive threat governance (for example, regular vulnerability scans). Application Architects oversee the implementation of these standards within Pega Platform applications to maintain a robust security posture.

Pega Cloud maintains certifications including ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, SOC 2 Type 2, HITRUST, PCI DSS, and FedRAMP. Application Architects supervise annual audits or audits triggered by major network changes to ensure continuous compliance and risk mitigation within their application designs.

Security audit patterns provide structured approaches to assess specific aspects of your organization’s security posture. These patterns ensure comprehensive coverage of potential vulnerabilities and compliance requirements. Application Architects are responsible for supervising these patterns to ensure that application designs align with security best practices and regulatory standards.

The following patterns are widely adopted in enterprise environments to address critical security domains:

Access control audit
Review authentication and authorization processes, including user identities, roles, and privileges. Detect over-provisioning and orphan accounts. Application Architects ensure that role-based access controls (RBAC) in Pega Platform are configured to align with organizational policies and compliance requirements.

Application security audit
Evaluates the security of the application layer, including application logic, data handling, and access controls. This audit focuses on secure coding practices, input validation, authentication and authorization mechanisms, session management, and protection against common vulnerabilities such as those defined in OWASP Top 10. It also includes review of DevSecOps practices, code reviews, and application-level configurations to ensure the system enforces security policies consistently.

Network and Infrastructure Audit
Evaluates the security and resilience of the underlying hosting environment and network architecture. This includes review of firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS), network segmentation, secure communication protocols, patch management, and infrastructure hardening. The audit ensures that the platform operates within a secure and compliant environment with proper monitoring, threat detection, and access controls at the infrastructure level.

Data protection audit
Ensure that sensitive data is encrypted at rest (for example, AES-256) and in transit (for example, TLS 1.3). Verify that backup systems are reliable and compliant. Confirm retention policies to prevent unauthorized access or data loss. Application Architects design data models and workflows in Pega Platform to enforce encryption and compliance with regulations such as GDPR.

Incident response audit
Assess how effectively your organization detects, escalates, and recovers from security incidents. Ensure that response plans are documented, tested, and aligned with business continuity objectives. Application Architects oversee incident response processes within Pega Platform applications to ensure proper logging and escalation mechanisms.

Compliance audit
Verify that practices align with internal policies and external regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO standards. Promote accountability, reduce legal risks, and maintain certification requirements. Application Architects ensure that Pega Platform applications meet regulatory requirements through proper configuration and audit trails.

Change and configuration audit
Track modifications to systems, applications, and data. Ensure that changes follow approved workflows. Prevent unauthorized changes and maintain operational integrity by using proper documentation and version control. Application Architects supervise change management in Pega Platform, using tools such as version control and audit logs to ensure compliance.

Security monitoring audit
Evaluate how effectively systems and applications are monitored for security events, such as unauthorized access attempts or anomalies. Ensure that monitoring tools are configured to detect and alert on potential threats to support proactive issue resolution. Application Architects configure Security Event Configuration in Pega Platform and integrate with external tools such as Splunk to enable real-time threat detection.

The following figure shows the security audit patterns, arranged to help quick understanding of the concept :

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