An Introductory Guide to Threat Modeling for Businesses

Key Takeaway

• Threat modeling identifies potential risks and vulnerabilities in applications, systems, and resources early in the development lifecycle. This helps businesses prepare and reduce the chances of successful cyberattacks.
• Popular frameworks like STRIDE, DREAD, PASTA, and CVSS offer structured approaches to evaluate vulnerabilities, understand potential attack scenarios, and prioritize security needs effectively.
• Threat models should be created during the design phase and updated throughout the development, testing, and post-production stages. This process should involve all stakeholders to ensure comprehensive documentation and mitigation.

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Threat modeling identifies possible risks and threats to a business's applications, systems, and resources. With insights into how cyberattacks could occur in advance, threat modeling enables organizations to prepare effectively and lower the chances of a successful breach.

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Even organizations with substantial cybersecurity resources struggle to allocate sufficient time and budget to threat modeling. This isn't due to a lack of understanding of its importance, but rather because it can be challenging to bridge the gap between what's needed and achievable, especially in complex tasks like threat modeling.

What is Cybersecurity Threat Modeling?

“Threat modeling uses hypothetical scenarios, system diagrams, and testing to improve systems and data security. It identifies system weaknesses, assesses risk, and recommends corrective measures. Threat modeling is crucial in strengthening cybersecurity and building trust in essential business systems.”

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As organizations move towards more digital and cloud-based operations, their IT systems are exposed to significant risks and vulnerabilities. The increased use of mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) devices further broadens the threat landscape. While external threats like hacking and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are often highlighted, internal threats, such as employees stealing or manipulating data, can pose serious risks.

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Smaller businesses are not safe from these attacks; they may be at higher risk due to insufficient cybersecurity measures. Malicious hackers often assess potential targets and seek out those that are easier to compromise.

How Does Threat Modeling Work?

Digital systems face a growing number of potential threats. These threats include hacking, distributed denial-of-service attacks, and the theft of sensitive information, which affects both large and small organizations. Threat modeling reduces these risks by early identification of vulnerabilities in software development. Thus, attacks are addressed before malicious actors can exploit systems.

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Threat modeling can range from simple brainstorming sessions with your team to advanced software and hardware tools to enhance security in large, interconnected systems. It is about understanding your application's structure and pinpointing its most essential assets, such as account data or intellectual property. This helps identify and prioritize security needs during the design phase.

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Threat modeling develops attack scenarios to evaluate vulnerabilities in your system and create a profile of potential attackers to understand the most likely methods they might use to gain access. This is similar to risk management methods such as STRIDE or CVSS, but it also includes additional benefits of assessing the cost and impact of each identified vulnerability.

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After completing threat models, validate them carefully. This process may include reviewing the models to confirm their accuracy or conducting a series of tests on your application to find any vulnerabilities that could have been overlooked.

5 Types of Threat Modeling Methodologies

There are many threat modeling methods, so organizations must carefully assess and pick the one that fits their needs. A well-chosen method offers essential insights into how strong a system's architecture is against possible threats. However, it is essential to understand that what works well for one organization may not be ideal for another.

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Below are some of the most popular types of threat modeling methods and techniques:

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STRIDE

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STRIDE is a widely recognized threat modeling method developed by Microsoft, which has improved over time and is now considered one of the best available. This technique identifies system boundaries, events, and entities using data flow diagrams (DFDs).

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The acronym STRIDE stands for Spoofing identity, Tampering with data, Reputation, Information disclosure, Denial of service, and Elevation of privilege. These terms cover important types of threats that a system may encounter.

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PASTA

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PASTS (The Process for Attack Simulation and Threat Analysis) is a seven-step threat modeling method that emphasizes risk. It allows organizations to allocate more time and resources to significant vulnerabilities while paying less attention to those with minimal impact.

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Compared to other methods, such as STRIDE, PASTA places greater emphasis on the business context.

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DREAD

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DREAD is a threat modeling method created by Microsoft, represented by the terms Damage potential, Reproducibility, Exploitability, Affected users, and Discoverability. This approach provides a structured way for users to identify threats and evaluate the risk level connected to each one.

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The DREAD method can help prioritize the most serious threats and decide on the best strategies to reduce those risks.

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Trike

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Trike is a security audit process and methodology using a risk-based threat modeling approach. It assigns a risk score to assets while ensuring that the level of risk is acceptable to stakeholders. The risk levels are rated on a five-point probability scale.

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Trike also uses a step matrix where rows represent actors and columns represent assets. It stands out among threat modeling techniques as it focuses on risk management and the perspective of defense.

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Attack Trees

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Attack trees are the oldest and most popular methods for threat modeling. They illustrate potential threats by using diagrams that show their goals and the various paths to achieve them. Each attack tree focuses on a different attack goal.

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Although initially used as a standalone approach, users now often combine attack trees with other methods and frameworks such as STRIDE, PASTA, and CVSS.

Best Practices for Putting Threat Modeling into Practice

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Business leaders need a clear plan for threat modeling initiatives and integrating threat modeling into the regular software development process. The following practices can assist in achieving this goal.

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Emphasize Compliance Mandates

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Most compliance frameworks do not specifically require the development of threat models. However, threat modeling can aid in fulfilling compliance requirements, particularly in frameworks that require businesses to evaluate risk systematically. 

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Business leaders can encourage their colleagues and employees to view threat modeling as an essential practice rather than just an optional one. They should make it a key part of their Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) strategies.

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Highlight Contractual Obligations

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Similarly, threat modeling can fulfill obligations outlined in contracts, mainly if those agreements include risk management and identification clauses.

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For instance, if your company provides software to customers or partners, contractual obligations may require you to address risks within the software to avoid passing those risks onto the users' organizations. A threat model for the software demonstrates that you are effectively managing risks in a systematic way.

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Adopt IT Security Policies

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In addition to compliance and contractual obligations, many businesses set internal IT security goals. For instance, they may implement access controls based on the principle of least privilege or enforce zero-trust security policies on their networks.

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From this angle, threat modeling is a practice that the entire IT department can adopt, as it contributes to achieving broader objectives related to internal governance and security strategy.

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Utilize Chargebacks

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A secure budget can be complex for threat modeling, mainly because the costs go beyond buying a tool. Consider the staff time needed to create and maintain the threat models.

One solution is to use chargebacks. With chargebacks, business leaders can acknowledge the efforts of those who assist with threat modeling projects.

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This encourages various departments to engage in threat modeling, even if it's not a formal part of their roles. Additionally, it offers better insight into the costs associated with threat modeling and simplifies allocating the necessary budget for these initiatives.

Some Misconceptions about Threat Modeling

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Threat modeling as a security practice is often misunderstood. Some believe it is only necessary during the design phase, while others see it as an optional task that can be replaced by penetration testing or code reviews. Some individuals argue that the process is too complex.

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Automated testing in the SDLC cannot replace threat modeling. While automated testing can effectively identify vulnerabilities in the code, manual security assessments like threat modeling are more effective at revealing design flaws.

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It is essential to carry out threat modeling after deployment. Knowing the issues in the current deployment helps shape future security strategies, and keeping an eye on weaknesses enables quicker and more effective fixes. Without a clear understanding of the potential threats an application encounters, you cannot ensure that all risks are being addressed.

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Threat modeling is not as complex as many developers think. Although it can appear overwhelming at first, break the process into manageable steps to conduct a threat modeling easily, whether for a simple web application or a complex system. The essential approach begins with basic best practices.

Conclusion

Threat modeling has become essential for businesses, not just for meeting compliance requirements. As systems innovate and increase their use of AI and machine learning, the importance of threat modeling will continue to grow. It will remain key in ensuring security is integrated into all business activities.

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