Threat Model Skill

Overview

Threat modeling finds security issues before code is written. This skill guides systematic identification of threats through structured analysis—because finding vulnerabilities in design is 100x cheaper than finding them in production.

Core principle: Think like an attacker, document like an engineer. Threat modeling isn't about paranoia—it's about systematic analysis of what could go wrong.

The Threat Modeling Process

Phase 1: Understand the System

Before identifying threats:

1. Define Scope

   • What are we modeling?
   • What's in scope / out of scope?
   • What are the security requirements?

2. Create Data Flow Diagram

   • What are the components?
   • How does data flow between them?
   • Where are the trust boundaries?

3. Identify Assets

   • What data matters?
   • What functionality matters?
   • What would an attacker want?

Phase 2: Identify Threats

Systematically find threats:

1. Apply STRIDE to Each Component

   • For each element in the DFD
   • Consider each STRIDE category
   • Document potential threats

2. Consider Attack Paths

   • How could an attacker reach this?
   • What would they need to exploit it?
   • What's the blast radius?

3. Document Assumptions

   • What are we assuming is secure?
   • What are we trusting?
   • What could invalidate assumptions?

Phase 3: Prioritize and Mitigate

Then address what matters:

1. Score Risks

   • Use DREAD or CVSS consistently
   • Consider both impact and likelihood
   • Factor in existing controls

2. Identify Mitigations

   • How do we prevent this threat?
   • How do we detect if it happens?
   • How do we respond?

3. Track to Resolution

   • Create actionable tickets
   • Assign ownership
   • Verify mitigations implemented

STRIDE Framework

Apply to each component in your data flow diagram:

Threat	Property Violated	Questions to Ask
Spoofing	Authentication	Can someone pretend to be someone else?
Tampering	Integrity	Can data be modified without detection?
Repudiation	Non-repudiation	Can someone deny they did something?
Information Disclosure	Confidentiality	Can sensitive data leak?
Denial of Service	Availability	Can the system be made unavailable?
Elevation of Privilege	Authorization	Can someone gain unauthorized access?

Red Flags - STOP and Analyze

Architecture Red Flags

❌ CRITICAL: No authentication between services
   "Internal services trust each other"
   → Lateral movement after any compromise

❌ CRITICAL: Secrets in code or config
   "API keys are in the codebase"
   → Anyone with repo access has keys

❌ HIGH: No input validation at trust boundary
   "We trust data from the mobile app"
   → Mobile app can be reverse-engineered

❌ HIGH: Logging sensitive data
   "We log requests for debugging"
   → Logs become attack target

❌ MEDIUM: No rate limiting
   "We don't expect much traffic"
   → Brute force attacks enabled

Data Flow Red Flags

❌ CRITICAL: Sensitive data over unencrypted channel
   "It's internal network only"
   → Insiders can sniff traffic

❌ HIGH: No encryption at rest for PII
   "Database is behind firewall"
   → Backup tapes, logs, replicas exposed

❌ HIGH: Cross-origin data access
   "Frontend needs to call multiple APIs"
   → CORS misconfiguration risks

❌ MEDIUM: Storing more data than needed
   "We might need it later"
   → Larger attack surface, compliance risk

Common Rationalizations - Don't Accept These

Excuse	Reality
"It's behind the firewall"	Firewalls get bypassed. Defense in depth.
"Only admins have access"	Admin credentials get stolen. Limit blast radius.
"We trust our employees"	Insider threat is real. Verify, don't trust.
"It's low priority data"	Low-priority breaches make news too. Protect it.
"We'll add security later"	Security debt compounds. Build it in.
"No one would attack us"	Automated attacks don't discriminate.

Threat Model Quality Checklist

Before finalizing threat model:

Scope:

• Clear boundaries defined
• Security requirements documented
• Assumptions listed

Analysis:

• Data flow diagram complete
• Trust boundaries identified
• STRIDE applied to each component
• Attack paths considered

Prioritization:

• Risks scored consistently
• Mitigations identified
• Residual risk documented

Tracking:

• Threats tracked as tickets
• Owners assigned
• Review scheduled

Quick Patterns

STRIDE Analysis Template

## STRIDE Analysis: [Component Name]

**Component Description:** [What it does]
**Data Handled:** [What data flows through it]
**Trust Level:** [Who can access it]

### Spoofing
- **Threat:** [Description]
- **Likelihood:** [Low/Medium/High]
- **Impact:** [Low/Medium/High]
- **Mitigation:** [How to prevent]

### Tampering
- **Threat:** [Description]
- **Mitigation:** [How to prevent]

[Continue for R, I, D, E...]

DREAD Risk Scoring

Factor	1 (Low)	2 (Medium)	3 (High)
Damage	Minor inconvenience	Service disruption	Data breach
Reproducibility	Complex conditions	Sometimes works	Reliable exploit
Exploitability	Expert knowledge	Some skill needed	Script kiddie
Affected Users	Single user	Subset of users	All users
Discoverability	Requires insider	Can find by probing	Publicly known

Score: (D + R + E + A + D) / 5

• 2.5 - 3.0: Critical - Fix immediately
• 1.5 - 2.4: High - Fix soon
• 1.0 - 1.4: Low - Fix eventually

Abuser Story Template

**As a** [malicious actor type],
**I want to** [malicious action],
**So that** [attacker's goal].

**Attack Vector:** [How they would do it]
**Prerequisites:** [What they need]
**Impact:** [What happens if successful]

Example:

As a external attacker, I want to inject SQL into the login form, So that I can dump the user database.

Attack Vector: Submit

' OR '1'='1

in username field Prerequisites: Knowledge of SQL injection, access to login page Impact: Full database compromise, credential theft

Data Flow Diagram Elements

┌─────────────┐
│   Process   │  ○ Application logic (trust boundary)
└─────────────┘

╔═════════════╗
║  Data Store ║  ═ Database, file system
╚═════════════╝

┌ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ┐
  External     │  □ User, third-party system
│  Entity
└ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ┘

     ───────►     → Data flow (label with data type)

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊ ┊    ┊ Trust boundary (networks, privilege levels)

Quick Commands

# Generate diagram from code
# (Use draw.io, Mermaid, or Threat Dragon)

# Automated threat analysis
pip install pytm  # Python threat modeling
threatspec         # Threat modeling as code

# Track findings
# Create issues in your tracker with:
# - Threat description
# - DREAD score
# - Mitigation plan
# - Owner
# - Target date

References

Detailed patterns and examples in

references/

:

• stride-examples.md

  - STRIDE analysis walkthroughs

• attack-patterns.md

  - Common attack patterns by component

• mitigation-catalog.md

  - Standard mitigations for common threats