security-governance

name	security-governance
description	Establishes engagement rules, authorization boundaries, and operational guardrails for all security review skills. Must be invoked before any assessment work begins.
applyTo	**/*

Security Governance

Purpose

Define and enforce the authorization boundary, scope constraints, and operational rules that govern all downstream security skills. No assessment, scanning, or exploitation work may proceed without a governance check.

Triggers

• User requests any security assessment, pentest, code review, or bug bounty work
• Start of any new engagement or target
• Scope change or target addition mid-engagement
• Any doubt about authorization status

Required Inputs

Input	Description	Required
target	The system, application, URL, repo, or component to assess	Yes
scope	Explicit boundaries: what is in-scope, what is out-of-scope	Yes
authorization	Reference to authorization document, bug bounty program URL, or explicit user confirmation	Yes
rules_of_engagement	Any special constraints: no DoS, no production data modification, rate limits, etc.	Recommended
stakeholder	Who receives findings and escalations	Recommended

Workflow

1. Collect Authorization — Confirm the user has explicit authorization for the target. Require one of:
   • Bug bounty program URL with scope definition
   • Pentest statement of work / authorization letter reference
   • Explicit user statement: "I am authorized to test [target]"
2. Define Scope — Document exactly what is in scope and what is not. Include:
   • Target domains, IPs, endpoints, repositories
   • Excluded areas (production databases, third-party services, etc.)
   • Testing windows if applicable
3. Set Rules of Engagement — Establish:
   • Allowed actions (read, scan, exploit, modify)
   • Forbidden actions for this engagement
   • Rate limiting / throttling requirements
   • Data handling rules (no exfiltration of real user data)
   • Escalation procedures for critical findings
4. Record Governance Context — Store as structured context for all downstream skills
5. Gate Check — Before each skill invocation, verify the action falls within authorized scope

Allowed Actions

• Collect and document scope information
• Request authorization confirmation from user
• Define engagement rules and constraints
• Create governance context record
• Block downstream skills if authorization is missing or scope is unclear
• Escalate ambiguous authorization to user

Forbidden Actions

• Proceed with any assessment without confirmed authorization
• Assume authorization for targets not explicitly listed
• Expand scope beyond what was authorized
• Skip governance check for "quick" or "obvious" tasks
• Store or transmit actual credentials, PII, or sensitive data outside the assessment context

Operational Guardrails (Apply to ALL Skills)

These rules cascade to every security skill in the kit:

1. Authorization Required — Every action must trace back to explicit authorization
2. Scope Enforcement — Never test, scan, or exploit anything outside defined scope
3. Exploit Automation — Full exploit development and automation is permitted within authorized scope for validation purposes
4. Persistence & Lateral Movement — Permitted only within explicitly authorized scope; document all actions
5. Credential Testing — Credential abuse, spraying, and stuffing permitted only against authorized targets
6. Social Engineering — Phishing and social engineering testing permitted only when explicitly in scope
7. Stealth Operations — Evasion and stealth techniques permitted within authorized scope for realistic assessment
8. Suspected vs Confirmed — Always separate suspected issues (pattern match, theoretical) from confirmed issues (validated with PoC)
9. Evidence Required — Every finding must include reproducible evidence
10. Conservative Classification — When in doubt, classify findings conservatively (lower severity, lower confidence)
11. Data Protection — Never exfiltrate, store, or display real user data; use redaction when showing evidence
12. Destructive Actions — Avoid actions that could cause data loss or service disruption unless explicitly authorized and with rollback plan

Output Format

Governance context record:

## Engagement Governance Record

| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| **Target** | [target] |
| **Scope** | [in-scope items] |
| **Exclusions** | [out-of-scope items] |
| **Authorization** | [reference] |
| **Authorization Confirmed** | Yes/No |
| **Rules of Engagement** | [constraints] |
| **Stakeholder** | [contact] |
| **Date** | [date] |
| **Allowed Actions** | [list] |
| **Forbidden Actions** | [list] |

Extended Guardrails

13. Out-of-Scope Discovery Protocol

When testing reveals adjacent assets (subdomains, IPs, services) not listed in scope:

• Do not test or interact with the discovered asset
• Log the discovery: asset name, how it was found, potential relevance
• Report to stakeholder as an Informational finding with title "Out-of-Scope Asset Discovered"
• Only proceed if the user explicitly adds it to scope via a governance update

14. Third-Party Service Testing

Services owned by third parties (CDNs, SaaS providers, payment gateways):

• Never test directly unless the third-party's own bug bounty program is in scope
• Test only the integration points within the authorized application
• Document third-party dependencies as informational findings
• Flag insecure integrations (e.g., plaintext API keys for third-party services) as findings against the authorized target

15. Zero-Day / Unknown Vulnerability Disclosure

When a previously unknown vulnerability is discovered:

• Classify as S1 Critical with C3 Probable or higher
• Do not attempt further exploitation beyond minimum PoC
• Immediately flag to stakeholder with [URGENT] prefix
• If it affects a widely-used library/framework, note potential coordinated disclosure need
• Do not publish, share, or reference the finding outside the engagement

16. PII and Sensitive Data Access Limits

• If exploitation exposes PII, capture minimum evidence (e.g., record count, field names, redacted sample)
• Never store, copy, or display unredacted PII — use scripts/redact_evidence.py
• Password hashes: record hash type and count only, never store actual hashes
• Financial data: screenshot redacted card numbers (first 6 / last 4 only)
• Health data: note field names only, never capture record content

17. Active Defense and Honeypot Interaction

• If testing reveals a honeypot, canary token, or deception technology:
  • Stop interaction immediately with that asset
  • Document the detection as an informational finding
  • Do not attempt to bypass or enumerate the deception system
  • Alert user that active defense may have triggered

18. Incident Response Trigger

Certain findings require treating the engagement as a live incident:

• Active compromise indicators (webshells, unauthorized accounts, C2 beacons)
• Data breach evidence (exfiltrated data dumps, active attacker sessions)
• Ransomware or wiper presence

Action: Stop assessment on affected systems. Immediately notify stakeholder with [INCIDENT] prefix. Preserve evidence. Await stakeholder direction before continuing.

19. Regulatory Escalation Matrix

Data Type Found	Regulation	Action
EU personal data	GDPR	Flag to stakeholder; note Art. 33 (72h breach notification) if breach confirmed
Payment card data	PCI DSS	Flag to stakeholder; note SAQ/ROC implications
Health records (US)	HIPAA	Flag to stakeholder; note breach notification requirement
Financial records (US)	SOX/GLBA	Flag to stakeholder; note compliance impact
Children's data	COPPA	Flag to stakeholder; note enhanced protection requirement
Government classified	Varies	Stop. Immediate stakeholder notification. Do not store.

20. Risk Acceptance Process

When a finding is disputed or accepted as risk:

• Require explicit stakeholder acknowledgment
• Change finding status to Accepted Risk
• Document: who accepted, date, rationale, review date (max 12 months)
• Do not delete or suppress the finding — it remains in the report

21. Scope Expansion Decision Matrix

Scenario	Decision
New subdomain found during recon	Pause → ask user → update governance record if approved
Shared hosting neighbor discovered	Out of scope — log only
Linked API on different domain	Pause → ask user → update governance record if approved
Internal network pivot possible	Only if internal scope is authorized; otherwise log and stop
Third-party SSO redirect	Test local integration only; SSO provider is out of scope
Cloud metadata endpoint reachable	In scope if cloud infra is authorized; otherwise log and report

22. Evidence Retention Policy

• Evidence collected during the engagement must follow these rules:
  • Retain raw evidence until the final report is delivered and accepted
  • After report acceptance, offer to purge raw evidence
  • Never retain evidence containing unredacted PII beyond report delivery
  • Screenshots and PoC recordings: strip EXIF/metadata before including in report
  • If engagement uses shared infrastructure, evidence must be stored in engagement-specific directory only

References

• references/severity-matrix.md — Severity and confidence classification
• references/report-template.md — Standard finding format
• references/cloud-cis-benchmarks-summary.md — Cloud compliance standards
• references/tool-recommendations.md — Approved tool reference