How Security Brutalism Can Make Your Products (and Company) Better
Security is often seen as the department of “No.” The blockers. The form-pushers. The final boss before you can ship your feature. But what if security could be something else entirely?
What if it was a partner in speed, simplicity, and clarity?
That’s what Security Brutalism offers: a stripped-down, high-impact approach to security that doesn’t slow you down—it makes you better.
What is Security Brutalism?
Inspired by the architectural movement of Brutalism, this security philosophy values structure, integrity, and honesty over decoration, process theater, or control for its own sake.
In practice, this means:
- Security is built into the architecture, not taped on after.
- Security helps teams move faster, not just "stay safe."
- Security gives clear, usable guidance, not vague policies.
It’s being real, not harsh.
How It Helps Organizations
Security Becomes a Multiplier, Not a Bottleneck
Brutalist security teams embed themselves in product and engineering early. They co-design with you. They help you choose patterns that are secure and efficient.
Example: Instead of waiting weeks for a security review, a PM drops a question into a security Slack channel and gets a useful, deployable answer in 45 minutes.
Products Get Stronger by Design
When security is built in from the start, products are more resilient. They can handle abuse, outages, and data risks without needing endless patchwork later.
Example: A team building a user-facing share feature brings security into early discussions. The result: minimal PII exposure, clear access controls, and fewer edge case bugs.
Teams Waste Less Time on Theater
Security Brutalism cuts away unnecessary reviews, forms, and checklists. Instead, it offers patterns, templates, and reusable decisions.
Example: Need to stand up a secure serverless function? Use a pre-approved pattern. Done in minutes. No 18-page doc to read.
The Business Gains Real Resilience
Brutalist Security leaders think like operators. They identify brittle parts of the organization—unowned systems, legacy platforms, dangerous shortcuts—and surface them early.
Example: A forgotten vendor system is flagged in a quarterly resilience review. Security uses it as a case study to align risk priorities across ops, legal, and IT.
Culture Shifts from Fear to Ownership
Security is no longer "someone else’s job." Brutalist security programs make it easy for teams to do the right thing by default.
Example: Instead of forcing teams through training, security embeds threat modeling into planning rituals. People learn by doing, not by compliance.
Bottom Line: Security That Builds, Not Blocks
Security Brutalism provides clear, fast, structural, and useful guidance and automation. It turns security from a stop sign into a load-bearing beam. When done right, your security program doesn’t just protect the business—it makes it run better.
So next time you hear "Security Brutalism," don’t think restriction. Think resilience with speed. Simplicity with power. Think better product, stronger company, fewer surprises.
And maybe even shipping faster.