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3ApproachestoThreatModeling

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2012

3ApproachestoThreatModeling
onMAY28,2012ByMYAPPSECURITYInTHREATMODELING

GettingStartedwithThreatModeler

LEAVEACOMMENT

ThreatModelingcanbeviewedintwodifferent,butrelatedcontexts.Oneistheimplementationofsecurity
controlsbyarchitectsthatmaptosecurityrequirementsandpolicyandtheotheristoreflectallpossibleknown
attackstocomponentsorassetsinathreatmodel,withthegoalofimplementingcountermeasuresagainst
thosethreats.

Blog
July2014

June2014
Thethreegeneralapproachestothreatmodelingare:
Softwarecentric
Assetcentric
Attackercentric
TheFigurebelowillustratesthecomponentsthatprovidethebasisfordifferentapproachestothreatmodeling:

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March2014
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June2013
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Belowisabriefdescriptionofeachofthedifferentapproaches:

SoftwareCentricThreatModeling:
Thisapproachinvolvesthedesignofthesystemandcanbeillustratedusingsoftwarearchitecturediagrams

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suchasdataflowdiagrams(DFD),usecasediagrams,orcomponentdiagrams.
Thismethodiscommonlyusedtothreatmodelnetworksandsystemsandhasbeenadoptedasthedefacto
standardforthreatmodeling.AgoodexampleofasoftwarecentricapproachisMicrosoftsSecure
DevelopmentLifecycle(SDL)framework.BoththeMicrosoftSDLandThreatAnalysis&Modeling(TAM)tools
illustratethreatmodelingbymeansofDFDs.
WithitsproductThreatModeler,MyAppSecurityprovidesathreatmodelingframeworkthatencompassesa
highlevelcomponentbaseddesign,combinedwithasoftwarecentricapproach.Fromthethreatmodel,
threatstoeachcomponentaredisplayedandspecificsecuritycontrolsareidentifiedthatwillmitigatethe
threats,alongwithsecurecodingstandardsthatshouldbeappliedduringtheapplicationdesignphase.

AssetCentricThreatModeling:
Anassetcentricapproachinvolvesidentifyingtheassetsofanorganizationentrustedtoasystemorsoftware,
(i.e.),dataprocessedbythesoftware.Assetsareclassifiedaccordingtodatasensitivityandtheirintrinsicvalue
toapotentialattacker,inordertoprioritizerisklevels.
Usingthisapproachtothreatmodeling,attacktrees,attackgraphs,ordisplayingpatternsbywhichanasset
canbeattackedaregenerated.Securityprofessionalsoftenarguethatthisapproachshouldnotbeclassified
asthreatmodeling,butissimplytheinevitableresultofasoftwarecentricdesignapproach.
Thisapproachhelpsidentifymultistepattacksandpathsbywhichanattackercanreachanasset.Basedon
riskanalysis,thesepathscanthenbeweightedandprioritizedaccordingly.TrikeandAmenazasSecuritree,
bothsupportthecreationofattacktrees,whileThreatModelerautomaticallygeneratesattacktreesfromthe
dataprovidedinthesoftwarecomponentthreatmodel.

AttackerCentricThreatModeling:
Anattackercentricapproachtothreatmodelingrequiresprofilinganattackerscharacteristics,skillset,and
motivationtoexploitvulnerabilities,andthenusingthoseprofilestounderstandthetypeofattackerwhowould
bemostlikelytoexecutespecifictypesofexploits,andimplementamitigationstrategyaccordingly.
Theattackercentricapproachalsousestreediagrams.Keyelementsofthisapproachincludefocusingonthe
specificgoalsofanattacker,thevariousconsiderationsrelatedtothesystemuponwhichtheattackcouldbe
perpetrated,alongwithitssoftwareandassets,howtheattackcouldbecarriedout,andfinally,ameansto
detectormitigatesuchanattack.Ananalystmayalsolistandanalyzerelatedattackpatternsorapproachesto
makethesesamedeterminations.
Anexamplewouldbeanattacktoobtaininformationfromabackenddatabase.Theconsiderationswouldbe
toensurethatadatabaseisbeingusedatthebackend,alongwiththemeanstoenterdatabasequeriesas
input,andfinallyavoidingdetectionandpreventionmechanisms.TheapproachwouldbespecificSQL
Injectioncommandsforthedatabaseidentified,orthepotentialuseoftoolsbywhichtheexploitationprocess
couldbeautomated.

ThreatModeler,MyAppSecuritysflagshipoffering,istheindustrysfirstautomated,scalable,andrepeatable
threatmodelingproduct.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/
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Relatedposts:
1. ComparisonofThreatModelingMethodologies
2. Top5ReasonstoImplementThreatModeling
3. ThreatModeling:Past,PresentandFuture

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4. ComparingThreatModelertoMicrosoftThreatModelingTool(TMT)

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