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A systematic process to identify, enumerate, and prioritize threats and mitigations for a system or application.
DESCRIPTION
Threat Modeling helps teams anticipate attacker goals and design security controls early. Methods like STRIDE, attack trees, and PASTA guide analysis of assets, entry points, trust boundaries, and mitigations. Visual models such as data flow diagrams clarify flows and trust boundaries. Integrating threat modeling into SDLC and architecture reviews reduces late-stage fixes. It complements risk assessment and testing by focusing on design-time security decisions.
ALTERNATIVE DEFINITIONS
OWASP
Threat modeling is a process by which potential threats, such as structural vulnerabilities or the absence of appropriate safeguards, can be identified, enumerated, and prioritized—all from a hypothetical attacker’s point of view.
Emphasizes attacker’s perspective and prioritization of threats.
Microsoft
Threat modeling is a core element of the SDL that helps you discover and address security design issues early in the development lifecycle.
Positions threat modeling within the secure development lifecycle.
RELATED TERMS
Attack Surface Data Flow Diagram Stride PASTA Attack Tree Abuse Case Security Requirements Mitigation Vulnerability Risk Assessment
COMPETING TERMS
KNOWLEDGE AREAS
Data Security Software Engineering Testing & Validation AI Governance
TARGET AUDIENCE
Security Architect Software Architect Software Developer Cybersecurity Engineer IT Project Manager MLOps Engineer AI Engineer
EXTERNAL SOURCES
- Wikipedia - Threat model
- OWASP - Community threat modeling guidance.
- Microsoft - SDL-aligned threat modeling process.
- Threat Modeling Manifesto - Principles and values for threat modeling.
TOP QUESTIONS
When should Threat Modeling be performed?
Early in design and revisited at major changes. Catching issues before coding reduces costs and improves architecture quality.
Category: Best practices
Which Threat Modeling method should I choose?
STRIDE suits application threats; PASTA focuses on risk and business impact; attack trees map attacker goals. Pick based on system and team expertise.
Category: Decision
What artifacts are needed for Threat Modeling?
Data flow diagrams, architecture diagrams, component lists, and trust boundaries. Clear asset definitions and entry points are vital.
Category: Requirements
How does Threat Modeling relate to Risk Assessment?
Threat Modeling identifies and prioritizes threats; Risk Assessment compares risks across the organization and informs treatment plans.
Category: Relationship
What is a common mistake in Threat Modeling?
Treating it as a one-time exercise. Models must evolve with architecture and threat landscape changes.
Category: Mistakes
How do you make Threat Modeling actionable?
Translate findings into security requirements, user stories, and test cases. Track them in the backlog with acceptance criteria.
Category: Management
What is the biggest misunderstanding about Threat Modeling?
That it is only for security experts. Cross-functional participation yields better coverage and practical mitigations.
Category: Misunderstanding
How do you measure Threat Modeling effectiveness?
Track defects prevented, mitigations implemented, and time-to-fix compared to late-stage discovery. Survey developer confidence and reuse of patterns.
Category: Measurement
How does Threat Modeling work for ML/AI systems?
Include attacks like data poisoning, model extraction, and prompt injection. Map assets across data, models, and serving endpoints.
Category: Application