Threat modeling - deep dive
What is threat modeling?
Threat modeling is a structured approach to identifying and assessing potential security threats and vulnerabilities in a system, application, or organization. The primary goal of threat modeling is to proactively identify and mitigate security risks before they can be exploited by attackers. It is a fundamental practice in the field of cybersecurity and is used to improve the overall security posture of a system or organization.
Here are the key components and steps involved in threat modeling:
Define the Scope: Begin by defining the scope of the threat modeling exercise. Determine what system, application, or organization you are assessing and what assets or data need protection.
Create a System Overview: Develop a detailed understanding of the system's architecture, components, and how they interact with each other. This step involves creating a diagram or model of the system.
Identify Assets: Identify and classify the assets that need protection. Assets can include data, hardware, software components, user accounts, and more.
Build your security profile: Identify what security measures are already in place. This will help identify what different attack scenarios are plausible.
Identify Threats: Identify potential threats and vulnerabilities that could impact the security of the system. Threats can be external (e.g., hackers, malware) or internal (e.g., insider threats, misconfigurations).
Assess Risks: Analyze the identified threats and vulnerabilities to assess the potential impact and likelihood of each risk. Risk assessment helps prioritize which risks should be addressed first.
Mitigation Strategies: Develop strategies and countermeasures to mitigate the identified risks. This may involve implementing security controls, changing system configurations, or redesigning parts of the system.
Review and Iterate: Review the threat model regularly, especially when there are changes to the system or new threats emerge. Threat modeling is an ongoing process that should be revisited as the system evolves.
There are various methodologies and tools available for conducting threat modeling. STRIDE (Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information disclosure, Denial of service, Elevation of privilege) is a popular methodology. DREAD (Damage, Reproducibility, Exploitability, Affected users, Discoverability) provides the threat modeling session with a risk rating and priority for addressing identified risks.. Different organizations may choose the approach that best suits their needs and resources.
Threat modeling is a proactive and systematic approach to cybersecurity that helps organizations anticipate and address security risks before they can be exploited, ultimately enhancing the security of their systems and data.
Where should threat modeling be used?
Threat modeling can and should be used in various contexts and across different phases of the software development lifecycle and the overall operations of an organization. Here are some key areas where threat modeling can be applied:
Software Development:
Application Development: Threat modeling should be conducted during the design and development of software applications. It helps identify and mitigate security risks in the early stages of development, reducing the likelihood of vulnerabilities making their way into the final product.
DevOps and CI/CD Pipelines: Integrating threat modeling into the DevOps and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) processes ensures that security is considered throughout the software development lifecycle.
Cloud and Infrastructure:
Cloud Environments: Organizations should perform threat modeling for their cloud-based infrastructure, identifying risks specific to cloud platforms and services.
Network Architecture: Evaluate the security of network architectures, including firewalls, routers, and other network components.
IoT (Internet of Things):
IoT Devices: Threat modeling is crucial when designing and manufacturing IoT devices to address vulnerabilities and privacy concerns.
IoT Ecosystems: Analyze the broader IoT ecosystem, including communication protocols, cloud services, and mobile applications that interact with IoT devices.
Mobile Applications:
Mobile Apps: Conduct threat modeling for mobile applications to identify and mitigate risks related to data storage, communication, and device-specific threats.
Operational Environments:
Network Security: Assess the security of an organization's network infrastructure, including data centers and remote offices.
Endpoint Security: Evaluate security measures on individual devices (e.g., desktops, laptops, mobile devices) to protect against malware, unauthorized access, and data loss.
Supply Chain Security:
Vendor Risk Management: Perform threat modeling to assess and manage security risks associated with third-party vendors and suppliers.
Critical Infrastructure:
Industrial Control Systems (ICS) and SCADA: Conduct threat modeling for critical infrastructure systems to protect against cyberattacks that could disrupt essential services like power grids and water treatment facilities.
Cloud-Native Applications:
Serverless Computing: Adapt threat modeling to the unique security challenges posed by serverless computing and microservices architectures.
Business Processes:
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery: Assess the security of business processes to ensure the organization can respond to and recover from security incidents and disasters effectively.
Discovery:
Legacy applications and systems: Legacy systems can often be hard to understand because the people that helped build them have left the organization and documentation is limited. Doing a threat model allows for everyone involved in the system to get a better understanding of how it operates and the risks associated with the system.
Mergers and acquisitions: When a company merges or acquires another company there are a lot systems that need to integrate within the environment. Threat modeling provides a way to understand the system and see what adjustments are needed for a smooth merger into current systems.
Threat modeling should be a continuous process, evolving as the organization and its technology landscape change. It's a versatile approach that can be applied across different industries and sectors to enhance security and minimize risks proactively.
What tools are available for threat modeling?
There are several tools available for conducting threat modeling, ranging from specialized threat modeling software to general-purpose diagramming and modeling tools. These tools can help organizations and security professionals analyze and document security threats and vulnerabilities. Here are some popular tools for threat modeling:
Microsoft Threat Modeling Tool: This is a free tool from Microsoft specifically designed for creating threat models. It provides templates and guidance for modeling threats, vulnerabilities, and mitigations. It integrates well with Microsoft's security development lifecycle (SDL) practices.
OWASP Threat Dragon: OWASP Threat Dragon is an open-source threat modeling tool that helps you create threat models based on the OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS). It's web-based and provides collaboration features.
IriusRisk: IriusRisk is a commercial threat modeling platform that offers a wide range of features for threat modeling and risk assessment. It helps organizations integrate threat modeling into their DevOps and CI/CD pipelines.
Axonius: While primarily known as a cybersecurity asset management platform, Axonius includes some threat modeling capabilities to help organizations understand and assess their security risks in the context of their asset inventory.
Lucidchart: Lucidchart is a general-purpose diagramming and visualization tool that can be used for threat modeling. It offers templates and shapes that are suitable for creating threat models and architectural diagrams.
Draw.io (now part of diagrams.net): Draw.io (now diagrams.net) is a free, open-source diagramming tool that can be used for threat modeling. It offers a wide range of shapes and templates for creating threat models and other diagrams.
ThreatSpec: ThreatSpec is an open-source tool for creating and managing threat models in Markdown format. It's designed to be lightweight and easily integrated into software development workflows.
SecurBIS: SecurBIS is a commercial tool that offers threat modeling capabilities along with risk assessment and management features. It's designed to help organizations identify and prioritize security risks.
Structured Threat Information eXpression (STIX): STIX is not a tool per se but a standard for representing and exchanging threat intelligence. Some threat modeling tools may support importing or exporting threat models in STIX format for sharing threat information with other security tools and platforms.
The choice of tool depends on various factors, including the organization's specific requirements, budget, and existing toolset. Additionally, many organizations may combine threat modeling tools with other security tools and practices to create a comprehensive security posture.
Methodologies and Approaches
Threat modeling is a structured approach used to identify and prioritize potential threats to a system and to implement effective countermeasures to mitigate or eliminate those threats. There are several methodologies and approaches to threat modeling, each with its own focus, steps, and techniques suitable for different types of systems and security objectives. Here are some of the widely recognized threat modeling methodologies:
1. STRIDE
STRIDE is an acronym for Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, and Elevation of Privilege. Developed by Microsoft, STRIDE is used to identify potential threats in each of these categories to ensure that all aspects of security are considered. It's particularly useful during the design phase of software development to identify security threats and vulnerabilities.
2. PASTA (Process for Attack Simulation and Threat Analysis)
PASTA is a seven-step, risk-centric methodology. It aims to integrate security within the software development lifecycle, focusing on business objectives and technical requirements. PASTA encourages a thorough analysis of potential attackers, their goals, and possible attack vectors, aligning the threat identification process with business risk management.
3. TRIKE
TRIKE is a risk management-based methodology used to create a security model that is measurable and actionable. It defines a process for applying risk models to the process of threat modeling, making it unique in its approach to quantify threats and assess the severity of risks to prioritize mitigation efforts effectively.
4. VAST (Visual, Agile, and Simple Threat)
VAST is designed to be scalable and integrates well with Agile development processes. It addresses some of the limitations of other methodologies when applied to large, complex systems or across multiple teams and projects. VAST uses a combination of automated and manual processes to ensure comprehensive coverage of threat modeling across an organization’s entire portfolio.
5. Attack Trees
Attack trees provide a methodical way of describing the security of systems based on varying attacks. Rooted in fault analysis techniques, an attack tree is a branching, hierarchical diagram representing a series of steps an attacker might take to achieve an unwanted outcome (such as breaching a system). This approach helps in understanding the potential vulnerabilities and the paths an attacker might take, facilitating a focused discussion on how to protect against these threats.
6. CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System)
While not a threat modeling methodology per se, CVSS is a standardized framework for rating the severity of security vulnerabilities in software. It can be used alongside threat modeling efforts to prioritize vulnerabilities identified during the analysis based on their severity, potential impact, and complexity of exploitation.
Choosing a Methodology
The choice of which methodology to use depends on various factors, including the specific needs of the project, the stage of the development lifecycle, the size and complexity of the application, and the resources available for threat modeling. It's common for organizations to adapt or combine different methodologies to fit their unique requirements.
Each methodology offers a different lens through which to examine and mitigate threats, so understanding the strengths and limitations of each is crucial in selecting the most appropriate one for your project.
Created with the help of ChatGPT.