Question

Difficulty: HardCloud Architecture and Deployment Models

A financial institution is deploying a microservice platform using a Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) cloud model to process high-frequency transaction requests. During a security architecture review, the compliance team requires a clear matrix of operational duties between the organization and the cloud service provider (CSP). Which of the following responsibilities is retained solely by the enterprise customer under this deployment model?

  1. Configuring application-level access control logic and authorization rules within the function codeAnswer
  2. B
    Patching the serverless host operating system and maintaining execution runtime dependencies
  3. C
    Establishing perimeter network trust boundaries to automatically validate requests originating within the cloud provider's virtual network
  4. D
    Classifying provider-managed physical facility audits as a customer-implemented technical preventative control

Answer

Configuring application-level access control logic and authorization rules within the function code is retained solely by the enterprise customer.
Under the cloud shared responsibility model for Function-as-a-Service (FaaS), the cloud service provider abstracts and manages the underlying hardware, hypervisor, host operating system, and language runtime environment. The enterprise customer retains complete responsibility for writing secure code, managing user data, defining data access policies, and embedding application-level authorization controls within the deployed function code.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the cloud service model specified in the scenario
Identified the platform model as Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) / Serverless compute
Service responsibility boundaries vary significantly depending on whether IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, or FaaS is used
2
Evaluate CSP versus customer responsibility for FaaS deployments
The CSP manages physical hardware, hypervisors, server OS, container runtimes, and auto-scaling logic
FaaS abstracts server and runtime management away from the customer
3
Identify the remaining customer management domain
The customer remains responsible for code development, API authorization logic, data classification, and IAM permissions
The customer owns all custom application logic and security configuration within their functions

Key Concept

Cloud Shared Responsibility Model in Serverless / FaaS Architectures
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