Privacy & Security: Enterprise-Grade Protection

Privacy & Security: Enterprise-Grade Protection

Using AI-powered development tools in enterprise environments requires careful attention to security and privacy. This guide covers comprehensive strategies for deploying Cursor while maintaining the highest security standards.

Security Architecture Overview

graph TB Dev[Developer Machine] --> Cursor[Cursor IDE] Cursor --> PM[Privacy Mode] PM --> Encrypt[Encryption Layer] Encrypt --> API[API Gateway] API --> Models[AI Models] Cursor --> MCP[MCP Servers] MCP --> Local[Local Resources] MCP --> Corp[Corporate Services] Corp --> Auth[Authentication] Corp --> Audit[Audit Logs] style PM fill:#f9f,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style Encrypt fill:#bbf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px style Auth fill:#bfb,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px

Privacy Mode Configuration

Understanding Privacy Levels

Standard Privacy

{
  "cursor.privacy.mode": "standard",
  "cursor.privacy.telemetry": "anonymized",
  "cursor.privacy.codeSharing": "snippets",
  "cursor.privacy.retention": "30days"
}

• Code snippets used for model improvement
• Anonymized telemetry collected
• 30-day retention for support

Enhanced Privacy

{
  "cursor.privacy.mode": "enhanced",
  "cursor.privacy.telemetry": "essential",
  "cursor.privacy.codeSharing": "none",
  "cursor.privacy.retention": "7days"
}

• No code used for training
• Minimal telemetry only
• 7-day retention for debugging

Zero Trust

{
  "cursor.privacy.mode": "zero-trust",
  "cursor.privacy.telemetry": "disabled",
  "cursor.privacy.codeSharing": "disabled",
  "cursor.privacy.retention": "none",
  "cursor.privacy.localProcessing": true
}

• No data leaves the organization
• Local model processing only
• No retention whatsoever

Tip

Enterprise Default: Business and Enterprise plans automatically enable Enhanced Privacy mode. This cannot be disabled by individual users when enforced at the organization level.

Enterprise Authentication

SSO Integration

1. Configure SAML 2.0

   # SAML configuration
   saml:
     idp:
       entityId: "https://idp.company.com"
       ssoUrl: "https://idp.company.com/sso"
       x509cert: "MIIDpDCCAoygAwIBAgIGAV..."
     sp:
       entityId: "cursor-enterprise"
       assertionConsumerService: "https://cursor.com/saml/acs"
     attributes:
       email: "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress"
       name: "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/name"
       groups: "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/claims/Group"

2. Enable SCIM Provisioning

   {
     "scim": {
       "enabled": true,
       "endpoint": "https://api.cursor.com/scim/v2",
       "bearerToken": "${SCIM_TOKEN}",
       "userFilter": "department eq 'Engineering'",
       "groupSync": true
     }
   }

3. Configure MFA Requirements

   {
     "security.mfa": {
       "required": true,
       "methods": ["totp", "webauthn", "sms"],
       "gracePeriod": "0",
       "rememberDevice": false
     }
   }

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

// Define security roles
interface SecurityRoles {
  admin: {
    canManageUsers: true;
    canViewAllCode: true;
    canModifySettings: true;
    canAccessAuditLogs: true;
  };
  developer: {
    canUseAI: true;
    canAccessOwnCode: true;
    canShareContext: false;
    modelAccess: ['sonnet', 'opus'];
  };
  contractor: {
    canUseAI: true;
    canAccessAssignedRepos: true;
    restrictedFeatures: ['sharing', 'export'];
    modelAccess: ['sonnet'];
  };
  auditor: {
    canViewAuditLogs: true;
    canExportReports: true;
    canUseAI: false;
  };
}

Code Security Measures

Preventing Data Leakage

// Implement content filtering
class SecurityFilter {
  private patterns = {
    secrets: [
      /api[_-]?key\s*[:=]\s*['"][^'"]+['"]/gi,
      /password\s*[:=]\s*['"][^'"]+['"]/gi,
      /AWS[A-Z0-9]{16,}/g,
      /ghp_[a-zA-Z0-9]{36}/g,
      /sk-[a-zA-Z0-9]{48}/g
    ],
    pii: [
      /\b\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}\b/g, // SSN
      /\b[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,}\b/gi, // Email
      /\b(?:\d{4}[-\s]?){3}\d{4}\b/g // Credit card
    ],
    internal: [
      /internal\.company\.com/g,
      /CONFIDENTIAL|SECRET|RESTRICTED/g,
      /Copyright.*Company Name/g
    ]
  };

  async filterContent(content: string): Promise<FilterResult> {
    const violations = [];

    for (const [category, patterns] of Object.entries(this.patterns)) {
      for (const pattern of patterns) {
        const matches = content.match(pattern);
        if (matches) {
          violations.push({
            category,
            pattern: pattern.source,
            matches: matches.length
          });
        }
      }
    }

    return {
      safe: violations.length === 0,
      violations,
      sanitized: this.sanitize(content, violations)
    };
  }
}

Secure MCP Configuration

// Secure MCP server configuration
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "internal-api": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/opt/mcp/internal-api-server.js"],
      "env": {
        "API_ENDPOINT": "https://api.internal.company.com",
        "AUTH_METHOD": "oauth2",
        "TLS_VERIFY": "true",
        "ALLOWED_OPERATIONS": "read"
      },
      "security": {
        "sandbox": true,
        "networkAccess": "restricted",
        "allowedHosts": ["*.internal.company.com"],
        "timeout": 30000
      }
    }
  }
}

Network Security

Proxy Configuration

Corporate Proxy

{
  "http.proxy": "http://proxy.company.com:8080",
  "https.proxy": "http://proxy.company.com:8080",
  "http.proxyStrictSSL": true,
  "http.proxyAuthorization": "Basic ${PROXY_AUTH}",
  "cursor.proxy.bypass": [
    "localhost",
    "127.0.0.1",
    "*.internal.company.com"
  ]
}

ZScaler

{
  "cursor.network.security": {
    "tlsVerification": true,
    "certificatePinning": true,
    "allowedCertificates": [
      "SHA256:XXXXXXXXXX"
    ],
    "http2": false,
    "proxy": {
      "type": "zscaler",
      "autoDetect": true
    }
  }
}

Custom CA

# Install corporate CA certificate
export NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/path/to/company-ca.crt

# Configure Cursor
{
  "http.systemCertificates": true,
  "http.proxyCA": "/path/to/company-ca.crt",
  "cursor.network.customCA": {
    "enabled": true,
    "path": "/path/to/company-ca.crt"
  }
}

Firewall Rules

# Required outbound connections
firewall_rules:
  - name: "Cursor API"
    destination: "api.cursor.com"
    port: 443
    protocol: "HTTPS"

  - name: "AI Models"
    destinations:
      - "api.anthropic.com"
      - "api.openai.com"
      - "generativelanguage.googleapis.com"
    port: 443
    protocol: "HTTPS"

  - name: "MCP Local"
    destination: "localhost"
    ports: [3000-3100]
    protocol: "TCP"

  # Block all other outbound
  - name: "Default Deny"
    destination: "*"
    action: "DENY"

Audit and Compliance

Comprehensive Audit Logging

// Audit log implementation
class AuditLogger {
  private readonly requiredFields = [
    'timestamp',
    'userId',
    'action',
    'resource',
    'result',
    'ipAddress',
    'sessionId'
  ];

  async logAction(event: AuditEvent): Promise<void> {
    const entry: AuditEntry = {
      id: generateUUID(),
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
      userId: event.userId,
      userName: event.userName,
      action: event.action,
      resource: event.resource,
      resourceType: event.resourceType,
      result: event.result,
      errorMessage: event.error?.message,
      ipAddress: event.ipAddress,
      userAgent: event.userAgent,
      sessionId: event.sessionId,
      organizationId: event.orgId,
      metadata: this.sanitizeMetadata(event.metadata)
    };

    // Log to multiple destinations
    await Promise.all([
      this.logToSIEM(entry),
      this.logToDatabase(entry),
      this.logToFile(entry)
    ]);

    // Real-time alerting for sensitive actions
    if (this.isSensitiveAction(event.action)) {
      await this.alertSecurityTeam(entry);
    }
  }
}

Compliance Monitoring

// Compliance checker
class ComplianceMonitor {
  async runComplianceCheck(): Promise<ComplianceReport> {
    const checks = {
      gdpr: await this.checkGDPR(),
      sox: await this.checkSOX(),
      hipaa: await this.checkHIPAA(),
      pci: await this.checkPCI()
    };

    return {
      timestamp: new Date(),
      checks,
      violations: this.aggregateViolations(checks),
      recommendations: this.generateRecommendations(checks)
    };
  }

  private async checkGDPR(): Promise<ComplianceResult> {
    // Check data retention policies
    // Verify right to erasure implementation
    // Audit data processing activities
    // Validate consent mechanisms
  }
}

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Content Inspection Rules

{
  "dlp.rules": [
    {
      "name": "Source Code Protection",
      "patterns": [
        "PROPRIETARY",
        "CONFIDENTIAL",
        "Trade Secret"
      ],
      "action": "block",
      "severity": "high"
    },
    {
      "name": "Customer Data",
      "patterns": [
        "customer_id",
        "account_number",
        "billing_address"
      ],
      "action": "redact",
      "severity": "medium"
    },
    {
      "name": "API Keys",
      "regex": "(?:api[_-]?key|token)\\s*[:=]\\s*['\"][^'\"]+['\"]",
      "action": "block",
      "alert": true,
      "severity": "critical"
    }
  ]
}

Real-time Monitoring

// DLP monitoring system
class DLPMonitor {
  private violations = new Map<string, Violation[]>();

  async monitorContent(content: ContentEvent): Promise<void> {
    const scan = await this.scanContent(content);

    if (scan.violations.length > 0) {
      // Log violation
      await this.logViolation(scan);

      // Take action based on severity
      switch (scan.highestSeverity) {
        case 'critical':
          await this.blockAction(content);
          await this.alertSecurityTeam(scan);
          break;

        case 'high':
          await this.requireApproval(content);
          break;

        case 'medium':
          await this.redactContent(content, scan.violations);
          break;
      }
    }
  }
}

Secure Development Practices

Secret Management

1. Never Store Secrets in Code

   // ❌ Bad
   const apiKey = "sk-1234567890abcdef";
   
   // ✅ Good
   const apiKey = process.env.API_KEY;

2. Use Secret Scanning

   .github/workflows/secret-scan.yml

   name: Secret Scanning
   on: [push, pull_request]
   
   jobs:
     scan:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         - name: Run Trufflehog
           uses: trufflesecurity/trufflehog@main
           with:
             path: ./
             base: ${{ github.ref }}

3. Implement Secret Rotation

   class SecretRotation {
     async rotateSecrets(): Promise<void> {
       const secrets = await this.getExpiringSecrets();
   
       for (const secret of secrets) {
         const newSecret = await this.generateNewSecret(secret);
         await this.updateSecret(secret.id, newSecret);
         await this.notifyApplications(secret.id);
         await this.scheduleOldSecretDeletion(secret);
       }
     }
   }

Security Incident Response

Incident Response Plan

// Automated incident response
class IncidentResponder {
  async handleSecurityEvent(event: SecurityEvent): Promise<void> {
    const severity = this.assessSeverity(event);

    // Immediate actions
    const response = {
      id: generateIncidentId(),
      timestamp: new Date(),
      event,
      severity,
      actions: []
    };

    // Contain the threat
    if (severity >= Severity.HIGH) {
      await this.containThreat(event);
      response.actions.push('threat_contained');
    }

    // Preserve evidence
    await this.preserveEvidence(event);
    response.actions.push('evidence_preserved');

    // Notify stakeholders
    await this.notifyStakeholders(event, severity);
    response.actions.push('stakeholders_notified');

    // Begin investigation
    const investigation = await this.initiateInvestigation(event);
    response.investigationId = investigation.id;

    return response;
  }
}

Team Security Training

Security Awareness Program

Secure Coding

• Input validation
• Output encoding
• Authentication best practices
• Session management

AI Security

• Prompt injection prevention
• Context poisoning awareness
• Model behavior validation
• Output verification

Data Handling

• Classification guidelines
• Encryption requirements
• Retention policies
• Disposal procedures

Incident Response

• Reporting procedures
• Evidence preservation
• Communication protocols
• Recovery planning

Compliance Certifications

Maintaining Compliance

Standard	Requirements	Cursor Configuration
SOC 2	Access controls, encryption, monitoring	Privacy Mode, audit logs, SSO
ISO 27001	Risk management, incident response	DLP rules, security policies
GDPR	Data protection, user rights	Data retention, anonymization
HIPAA	PHI protection, access logs	Enhanced privacy, encryption
PCI-DSS	Cardholder data protection	Network segmentation, monitoring

Security Checklist

1. Initial Setup

   • Enable Privacy Mode organization-wide
   • Configure SSO and MFA
   • Set up audit logging
   • Implement DLP rules

2. Network Security

   • Configure proxy settings
   • Install corporate CA certificates
   • Set up firewall rules
   • Enable TLS verification

3. Access Control

   • Define RBAC roles
   • Configure SCIM provisioning
   • Set up group-based permissions
   • Enable session management

4. Monitoring

   • Deploy security monitoring
   • Configure real-time alerts
   • Set up compliance scanning
   • Enable threat detection

5. Incident Response

   • Create response plan
   • Test backup procedures
   • Train response team
   • Document procedures

Caution

Remember: Security is not a one-time setup but an ongoing process. Regular audits, updates, and training are essential for maintaining a secure environment.

Next Steps

1. Conduct Security Assessment - Evaluate current security posture
2. Implement Privacy Mode - Enable enhanced privacy settings
3. Set Up Monitoring - Deploy audit and compliance tools
4. Continue to Team Collaboration - Secure collaborative workflows

Security and privacy are foundational to enterprise AI adoption. Master these concepts to enable your team to leverage AI’s power while maintaining the highest security standards.