Security, Quality & Compliance Assessment

Application: Nquiry Date: 2026-02-04 Reviewer: Claude (Senior Software Engineer role) Target Launch: Q2 2026

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Executive Summary

This assessment evaluates nquir's readiness for production launch against security best practices and compliance frameworks (HIPAA, FedRAMP 20x, SOC 2). The application demonstrates solid architectural foundations with security improvements implemented during this assessment.

Overall Scores:

Area	Score	Notes
Security Implementation	8.5/10	Strong foundation, key management improved
Test Coverage	7.5/10	641 tests passing, critical paths covered
HIPAA Readiness	70%	AWS BAA unsigned, Bedrock verification needed
FedRAMP 20x Readiness	80%	Strong auth, needs pen test
SOC 2 Readiness	60%	Documentation gaps

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1. Security Implementation

1.1 Authentication & Authorization

Strengths:

• WebAuthn/TOTP MFA with NIST-compliant password policy
• Session management with 12-hour max timeout (FedRAMP KSI-IAM)
• Row-Level Security (RLS) policies in PostgreSQL
• Protected route wrapper pattern enforcing auth checks
• Organization-based multi-tenancy with role verification

Controls in Place:

Control	Implementation	Status
MFA	WebAuthn + TOTP via Cognito	Done
Session Timeout	12 hours max, refresh on activity	Done
Password Policy	NIST 800-63B compliant	Done
Role-Based Access	owner > admin > member > viewer	Done
Route Protection	createProtectedRoute() wrapper	Done

1.2 Data Protection

Encryption:

Layer	Method	Status
At Rest (S3)	AES-256 with KMS	Done
At Rest (RDS)	AES-256 encrypted storage	Done
In Transit	TLS 1.2+ enforced	Done
Refresh Tokens	AES-256-GCM with Secrets Manager	Done

Key Management:

• Encryption keys stored in AWS Secrets Manager (implemented 2026-02-04)
• Environment variable fallback for development only
• Key rotation supported via Secrets Manager

1.3 Network Security

Security Headers (next.config.ts):

Header	Value	Purpose
Content-Security-Policy	Strict policy	XSS prevention
X-Frame-Options	DENY	Clickjacking
X-Content-Type-Options	nosniff	MIME sniffing
Strict-Transport-Security	2 years, includeSubDomains	HTTPS enforcement
Referrer-Policy	strict-origin-when-cross-origin	Referrer leakage
Permissions-Policy	Restrictive	Feature restriction

CSRF Protection (implemented 2026-02-04):

• Double-submit cookie pattern
• Validation on all state-changing API requests
• Skip list for webhooks and public endpoints

1.4 Input Validation

File Upload Validation (implemented 2026-02-04):

• MIME type whitelist enforcement
• File extension validation
• Magic byte verification for common types
• Blocked dangerous extensions (.exe, .js, .php, etc.)
• Maximum file size: 500MB

API Input Validation:

• Zod schemas for structured validation
• Standardized error responses with codes
• Request size limits configured

1.5 Rate Limiting

• Redis-backed rate limiting (code complete)
• Graceful fallback to in-memory
• Configurable limits per endpoint type

Pending: Redis infrastructure deployment (requires terraform apply)

1.6 Audit Logging

Capabilities:

• Comprehensive action logging (auth, CRUD, analysis, reports)
• IP address and user agent capture
• PHI handling flags
• Success/failure tracking
• In-memory failure tracking with recovery logging

Monitoring (implemented 2026-02-04):

• CloudWatch metric filter for [AUDIT FAILURE]
• CloudWatch alarm for immediate notification
• Security dashboard with alert visualization

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2. Compliance Readiness

2.1 HIPAA (70% ready)

Compliant:

• Encryption at rest (S3 KMS, RDS encryption)
• Encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+)
• Audit logging with timestamps
• Role-based access control
• Session management
• Automatic logout (12 hours)

Needs Action:

• AWS BAA must be signed (Joe - business task)
• Verify Bedrock HIPAA eligibility (Joe - research)
• Implement Bedrock Guardrails for PHI detection
• Complete risk assessment document

2.2 FedRAMP 20x (80% ready)

Compliant:

• MFA (WebAuthn + TOTP) - KSI-IAM
• Session timeouts (12h max) - KSI-IAM
• NIST 800-63B password requirements
• Audit trail with immutable logging
• Rate limiting
• CSRF protection

Needs Action:

• External penetration test required
• CloudTrail full configuration
• Continuous monitoring automation

2.3 SOC 2 (60% ready)

Compliant:

• Access controls documented
• Incident response plan exists
• Audit logging implemented

Needs Action:

• Change management process documentation
• Vendor management documentation
• Security awareness training evidence
• Formal risk assessment

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3. Test Coverage

3.1 Current Status

• Total Tests: 641 passing, 13 skipped
• Test Files: 33
• Critical Path Tests: 8 user journey tests

3.2 Coverage by Area

Area	Coverage	Notes
Authentication	90%	WebAuthn, MFA, session tests
Authorization	85%	Role-based access, org checks
API Routes	70%	Storage routes fully covered
Critical Paths	100%	8 E2E journey tests
AI/Analysis	75%	Schema validators, prompts
Error Handling	80%	Standardized error library

3.3 CI/CD Pipeline

• Lint + Type check on all PRs
• Test suite with 70% coverage threshold (warning)
• Semgrep security scanning configured
• E2E tests on main branch merges

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4. Remediation Completed (2026-02-04)

Issue	Description	Resolution
SEC-001	Hardcoded encryption key	AWS Secrets Manager integration
SEC-003	No audit failure alerts	CloudWatch alarms + dashboard
SEC-004	No CSRF protection	Double-submit cookie pattern
SEC-005	No upload content-type validation	MIME + magic byte validation
SEC-006	Missing security headers	Already in next.config.ts

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5. Outstanding Items

5.1 Blocked on Infrastructure (Joe)

Item	Dependency	Priority
Redis deployment	terraform apply in AWS	HIGH
Alert email config	Add alert_email to terraform	MEDIUM

5.2 Blocked on Business Tasks (Joe)

Item	Action Required	Priority
AWS BAA	Sign in AWS Console	HIGH
Bedrock HIPAA verification	Confirm with AWS support	HIGH
External pen test	Schedule vendor engagement	HIGH

5.3 Documentation Gaps

Document	Status	Priority
HIPAA Risk Assessment	Not started	HIGH
Asset Inventory	Partial	MEDIUM
Vendor Management	Not started	MEDIUM
BAA Template	Not started	MEDIUM

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6. Recommendations

Immediate (This Week)

1. Deploy Redis infrastructure for rate limiting persistence
2. Configure CloudWatch alert email notifications
3. Sign AWS BAA

Short-term (This Month)

1. Schedule external penetration test
2. Complete HIPAA risk assessment document
3. Implement Bedrock Guardrails for PHI detection

Medium-term (Before Launch)

1. Complete SOC 2 documentation
2. Set up continuous monitoring automation
3. Conduct security awareness training

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7. Verification Checklist

After infrastructure deployment, verify:

# 1. Security headers
curl -I https://app.nquir.ai | grep -E "(Content-Security|X-Frame|Strict-Transport)"

# 2. CSRF protection
# Should fail without token:
curl -X POST https://app.nquir.ai/api/test -H "Content-Type: application/json"
# Response: 403 CSRF_VALIDATION_FAILED

# 3. Rate limiting
# Should persist after server restart

# 4. Audit alerts
# Trigger test failure and verify CloudWatch alarm fires

# 5. All tests pass
npm test

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Appendix A: Files Modified/Created

File	Change
lib/shared/secrets.ts	NEW - Secrets Manager client
lib/auth/server.ts	Use Secrets Manager for keys
lib/shared/csrf.ts	NEW - CSRF utilities
lib/shared/fetch-with-csrf.ts	NEW - Client CSRF fetch
middleware.ts	NEW - CSRF middleware
lib/shared/file-validation.ts	NEW - File validation
app/api/storage/upload/route.ts	Add file validation
infrastructure/terraform/modules/monitoring/	NEW - CloudWatch module
infrastructure/terraform/environments/dev/main.tf	Add monitoring module

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Appendix B: New Dependencies

{
  "@aws-sdk/client-secrets-manager": "^3.x"
}

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Assessment prepared by Claude Code on 2026-02-04