Threat Modeling and Secure Design Principles

tag: [Engineer/Developer, Security Specialist]

Threat modeling and secure design principles help identify and mitigating potential security threats during the design phase of software development. T

Threat Modeling

  1. Identify Assets

    • Determine the valuable assets that need protection, such as user funds, sensitive data, user credentials, and intellectual property.

  2. Identify Threats

    • Identify potential threats to the assets using models like STRIDE (Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, Elevation of Privilege).

  3. Assess Risks

    • Evaluate the risks associated with each identified threat based on its likelihood and potential impact.

  4. Develop Mitigations

    • Design and implement security controls to mitigate the identified threats. Prioritize mitigations based on the assessed risks.

  5. Validate and Iterate

    • Regularly validate the threat model and update it as the application evolves. Continuously assess and improve security measures.

Secure Design Principles

  1. Principle of Least Privilege

    • Grant users and systems the minimum level of access necessary to perform their functions. Reduce the attack surface by limiting permissions.

  2. Defense in Depth

    • Implement multiple layers of security controls to protect against different types of threats. Ensure that security is not reliant on a single control.

  3. Fail Securely

    • Design systems to fail in a secure manner. Ensure that errors and failures do not expose sensitive information or create security vulnerabilities.

  4. Secure Defaults

    • Configure systems with secure default settings. Require users to opt into less secure configurations rather than opting into secure ones.

  5. Separation of Duties

    • Separate critical functions to prevent a single individual or system from having excessive control. Implement checks and balances.

  6. Secure by Design

    • Integrate security into the design and architecture of the application. Consider security implications during every stage of the design process.