The Spring MVC framework uses the model-view-controller (MVC) architecture. It features a DispatcherServlet that handles requests and responses and relies on controllers to process user input and build the model data before passing it to the view for rendering. Configuration involves mapping the DispatcherServlet to URLs in web.xml and defining controllers with annotations and handler methods. Spring Security integrates with Spring MVC to add authentication and authorization for specific URLs specified in the spring-security.xml configuration file.