This post was most recently updated on May 19th, 2023
Threat modelling is a systematic method for detecting and classifying potential risks, such as weaknesses or a lack of defence mechanisms, as well as ranking the importance of security mitigations. Threat modelling aims to give defenders and the security team a breakdown of the security measures required based on the current information systems and threat environment, the most likely assaults, their technique, objective, and target system.
Businesses might benefit from using threat modelling to lessen the expense and necessity of rewriting code during development or post-production maintenance. The main objective of a threat intelligence programme is to successfully record and report threats, so threat modelling aids threat intelligence analysts in discovering, classifying, and prioritising threats. The security defence and security operations teams can better defend IT assets from threats and vulnerabilities with the help of a good threat intelligence report.
To build a more successful model while using the threat model technique, you should consider the following questions.
- What types of assets are high-value ones?
- What might the profile of an attacker look like?
- What features of the programme are the most vulnerable to hacking attacks?
- What are the application’s biggest threats?
- Can one or more attack vectors possibly go undetected?
There is a wide array of both open source and commercial threat modelling tools available. The primary threat modelling tools that you want to have on hand for threat modelling are listed below: (The order of the list is arbitrary.)
There is a wide selection of commercial as well as open source threat modeling software to choose from. The following is a list of the top threat modeling tools that you should keep on hand for threat modeling: (The given list is in random order)
Five essential characteristics of threat modelling tools
System information input is simple.
Any effective threat modelling solution requires knowledge of your application’s intricate design, supporting infrastructure, and necessary regulatory compliance. The tool must be able to take this input seamlessly whenever a new module or need is being introduced. There is a lot of important information here, and any mistakes now could lead to troublesome threat models and security flaws. Therefore, it is crucial that this component of the product be simple to understand and utilise. The tools that let you
construct or upload a system diagram are the best for threat modelling (data flow diagrams being the most common).
Threat information
Threat intelligence is data gathered from a variety of publicly maintained threat libraries, such as MITRE’s CAPEC, as well as possibly some confidential data gathered by the toolmakers. On the basis of risks to competing applications on the market, it is essentially a database of numerous potential hazards to your system.
It is simpler to assess your vulnerabilities and foresee attacks when this information is compared to information about your system.
Threat dashboard
An easy-to-understand visual representation of the information acquired with threat intelligence is a threat dashboard. It is simpler to decide how to address vulnerabilities the more sophisticated the threat dashboard is. You can see the seriousness of each vulnerability and asset-level risk with a good threat dashboard.
A bird’s-eye perspective of the system’s current condition is provided by drilling down to view the threat severity of a certain module or even a user-flow within a single application.
Dashboard for mitigation
A good threat model allows you to take action in addition to listing a system’s vulnerabilities. This may entail making code corrections, implementing additional security measures, adding it to a queue, or simply ignoring it (when it is very low severity or the expense of security control is more than the cost of actual attack). The most important step in the threat modelling process is this one. Together with the threat dashboard, there is a mitigation dashboard. The threat dashboard must represent each correction you make with the aid of a mitigation dashboard.
Rule generator
A system called a rule engine compiles all the rules and guidelines that your company adheres to. It can just connect to current regulations like PCI and GDPR, or it can also
cooperate with specific requirements. This section of the tool makes sure that your company complies with all applicable regulations.
