What is Threat Modeling and what are its most significant advantages?
It is the method of determining the cybersecurity requirements of an organization security vulnerabilities, threats, and threats and suggesting strategies to address these needs and mitigate these vulnerabilities.
In his masterpiece of the military’s strategy The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote that “if you are aware of the enemy and are aware of it then you do not have to be concerned about the results of 100 fights.” As much data you have on your adversaries and the way they work, the more prepared you’ll be to deter their attacks.
The most apt place to apply this saying is than in the area of cybersecurity. There are a variety of countermeasures to organizations as well as reactive to safeguard themselves from attacks from hackers and to recover.
Particularly the process of threat modeling attempts to determine and recognize the threats that the IT ecosystem is exposed to. In this article, we’ll discuss the definition of threat modeling as well as the different methods to carry out threat modeling and the advantages of modeling for companies and industries that are of any size.
Like the name implies, threat modeling involves the creation of models of the many threats and vulnerabilities that could affect an organization’s security posture. Models of threat typically contain components like:
A brief description of the different resources and assets that are part of the IT infrastructure (endpoints software, networks, endpoints servers, databases, etc.)
A list of potential dangers to the system and the severity of their impact
A list of possible options and suggestions for dealing with every danger
Suggestions to validate the correctness of the model, and also confirming that the patches and fixes work.
Any assumptions or conditions that the threat model needs
Threat models come in a variety of forms, and may include a variety of visuals and documents, based on the most efficient method to convey information. For instance:
What are the different types of Modeling for Threats?
As each institution has the freedom to set its own standards There are as many different types of threats modeling that can be modeled as organizations that can be modelled. There are however various model of threat that has gained a lot of traction in the area of cybersecurity, each provides a framework to help companies think about the risks they are facing. Here is a brief overview of the most popular kinds of threat models.
STRIDE
It was initially developed by Microsoft in the late 1990s In the 1990s, the STRIDE threat modeling is being used in the present. The STRIDE acronym is a representation of some of the six most common cybersecurity threats:
Spoofing is the act of gaining access restricted networks or information through impersonation of an official user or resource
Tampering: Using malicious means to alter data (e.g. or encrypting files using ransomware or altering the configuration file in order to gain administrator access)
Repudiation: Denial of responsibility for an attack, without proving of the contrary
Information disclosure: Data breaches of confidential or sensitive files
Denial of Service: The act of shutting down the availability of a resource (e.g. or a website or service) by overloading it with unnecessary requests
Inappropriate access to the data or files in a non-authorized way, based on a user’s level of privilege in the system
PASTA
PASTA (Process of Threat Simulation and Analysis) is a threat-modeling framework that was developed during 2015 by consultancy firm VerSprite. The PASTA framework defines the 7 phases of creating a solid security threat model.
Define the goals: This encompasses both internal and any compliance or governance concerns.
Define the technical scope The attack surface of an organization can include endpoint systems as well as servers, networks mobile devices, applications containers, databases websites, and much more.
Decomposing applications Data flow diagrams assist users see how their applications interact with data in order to prepare more thorough analysis.
Analyzing threats using various information sources as well as the assets identified in the second step, companies need to determine the most urgent dangers to those assets.
Security vulnerabilities: Applications should be scrutinized for security vulnerabilities as well as design flaws and other weaknesses.
Examining attacks. Attack trees are how a malicious actor can effectively penetrate the IT ecosystem using the weaknesses found in step 5.
Assessing risks and their impact Then, companies must find ways to reduce or eliminate the challenges and issues mentioned above.
TRIKE
TRIKE is an open source threat modeling method to aid in security audits and risk management. The TRIKE website offers the users with a spreadsheet to establish the relationship between the different people as well as assets in the IT environment. Based on these definitions, IT professionals are able to implement appropriate security measures or preventive measures to guard against any potential threats.
Visit threat-modeling.com when looking for a threat model tool.
What are the advantages from Threat Modeling?
Threat modeling is among the most crucial strategies businesses can use to defend their systems from attacks by cybercriminals. The advantages and benefits of threat modeling are:
Improved collaboration The first priority is that threat modeling assists in getting every department within the company on the same team. By setting out your IT resources as well as the issues they face threat modeling makes sure that everyone from your IT team to key stakeholders and executives using the same concepts and assumptions.
The reduction of the attack surface Threat modeling can help identify backdoors as well as other weaknesses within your IT system in order to be repaired quickly and effectively. Additionally threat modeling assists in reducing IT complicatedness through the identification of redundant endpoints, software or other resources that could be removed.
Prioritizing cybersecurity requirements Threat modeling assists companies understand which threats require the greatest time and attention in budget or effort. For instance, given the number of security vulnerabilities within the IT infrastructure, which of them should be dealt with first?
Enhancing compliance through threat modeling assists companies in complying with the laws on security and privacy of data and regulations that force companies to know how they could put sensitive data at risk. For instance GDPR, which is the law of the European Union (General Data Protection Regulation) requires companies to conduct an Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) before they start new projects that handle personal information.
Conclusion
From eliminating potential threats to increase the compliance of regulatory agencies threat modeling can provide advantages. Any organization looking to improve its cybersecurity must engage in threat modeling frequently.