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ThreatModelingcanbeviewedintwodifferent,butrelatedcontexts.Oneistheimplementationofsecuritycontrolsbyarchitectsthatmaptosecurityrequirementsandpolicyandtheotheristoreflectallpossibleknownattackstocomponentsorassetsinathreatmodel,withthegoalofimplementingcountermeasuresagainstthosethreats.

Thethreegeneralapproachestothreatmodelingare:

SoftwarecentricAssetcentricAttackercentric

TheFigurebelowillustratesthecomponentsthatprovidethebasisfordifferentapproachestothreatmodeling:

Belowisabriefdescriptionofeachofthedifferentapproaches:

SoftwareCentricThreatModeling:Thisapproachinvolvesthedesignofthesystemandcanbeillustratedusingsoftwarearchitecturediagrams

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suchasdataflowdiagrams(DFD),usecasediagrams,orcomponentdiagrams.

Thismethodiscommonlyusedtothreatmodelnetworksandsystemsandhasbeenadoptedasthedefactostandardforthreatmodeling.AgoodexampleofasoftwarecentricapproachisMicrosoftsSecureDevelopmentLifecycle(SDL)framework.BoththeMicrosoftSDLandThreatAnalysis&Modeling(TAM)toolsillustratethreatmodelingbymeansofDFDs.

WithitsproductThreatModeler,MyAppSecurityprovidesathreatmodelingframeworkthatencompassesahighlevelcomponentbaseddesign,combinedwithasoftwarecentricapproach.Fromthethreatmodel,threatstoeachcomponentaredisplayedandspecificsecuritycontrolsareidentifiedthatwillmitigatethethreats,alongwithsecurecodingstandardsthatshouldbeappliedduringtheapplicationdesignphase.

AssetCentricThreatModeling:Anassetcentricapproachinvolvesidentifyingtheassetsofanorganizationentrustedtoasystemorsoftware,(i.e.),dataprocessedbythesoftware.Assetsareclassifiedaccordingtodatasensitivityandtheirintrinsicvaluetoapotentialattacker,inordertoprioritizerisklevels.

Usingthisapproachtothreatmodeling,attacktrees,attackgraphs,ordisplayingpatternsbywhichanassetcanbeattackedaregenerated.Securityprofessionalsoftenarguethatthisapproachshouldnotbeclassifiedasthreatmodeling,butissimplytheinevitableresultofasoftwarecentricdesignapproach.

Thisapproachhelpsidentifymultistepattacksandpathsbywhichanattackercanreachanasset.Basedonriskanalysis,thesepathscanthenbeweightedandprioritizedaccordingly.TrikeandAmenazasSecuritree,bothsupportthecreationofattacktrees,whileThreatModelerautomaticallygeneratesattacktreesfromthedataprovidedinthesoftwarecomponentthreatmodel.

AttackerCentricThreatModeling:Anattackercentricapproachtothreatmodelingrequiresprofilinganattackerscharacteristics,skillset,andmotivationtoexploitvulnerabilities,andthenusingthoseprofilestounderstandthetypeofattackerwhowouldbemostlikelytoexecutespecifictypesofexploits,andimplementamitigationstrategyaccordingly.

Theattackercentricapproachalsousestreediagrams.Keyelementsofthisapproachincludefocusingonthespecificgoalsofanattacker,thevariousconsiderationsrelatedtothesystemuponwhichtheattackcouldbeperpetrated,alongwithitssoftwareandassets,howtheattackcouldbecarriedout,andfinally,ameanstodetectormitigatesuchanattack.Ananalystmayalsolistandanalyzerelatedattackpatternsorapproachestomakethesesamedeterminations.

Anexamplewouldbeanattacktoobtaininformationfromabackenddatabase.Theconsiderationswouldbetoensurethatadatabaseisbeingusedatthebackend,alongwiththemeanstoenterdatabasequeriesasinput,andfinallyavoidingdetectionandpreventionmechanisms.TheapproachwouldbespecificSQLInjectioncommandsforthedatabaseidentified,orthepotentialuseoftoolsbywhichtheexploitationprocesscouldbeautomated.

ThreatModeler,MyAppSecuritysflagshipoffering,istheindustrysfirstautomated,scalable,andrepeatablethreatmodelingproduct.PleasecontactustolearnmoreaboutThreatModeler.

References:http://www.myappsecurity.com/threatmodeler/

http://www.microsoft.com/security/sdl/default.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threat_model

http://www.csl.sri.com/projects/cam/

Relatedposts:

1. ComparisonofThreatModelingMethodologies

2. Top5ReasonstoImplementThreatModeling

3. ThreatModeling:Past,PresentandFuture

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4. ComparingThreatModelertoMicrosoftThreatModelingTool(TMT)

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