Cybersecurity Threat Modeling

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Questions and Answers

What does the acronym STRIDE in threat modeling represent?

Substituting, Tampering, Rejection, Information loss, Denial, Elevation

Spoofing, Tolerance, Revocation, Infiltration, Disruption, Escalation

Surveillance, Tampering, Response, Information integrity, Denial, Exploitation

Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information disclosure, Denial of service, Elevation of privilege (correct)

Which strategy is NOT a method for mitigating the threat of tampering with data?

Employing multi-factor authentication

Implementing strong access controls

Regular data backups (correct)

Using encryption like HTTPS

What is the most effective way to prevent spoofing of identity in a system?

Provide user training on password security

Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) (correct)

Install antivirus programs

Regularly update software

In the context of threat modeling, what does repudiation refer to?

A user denies performing an action taken in a system. Signup and view all the answers

What type of threat is characterized by a system becoming unavailable due to excessive requests?

Denial of Service (DoS) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following techniques primarily addresses the threat of information disclosure?

Encrypting sensitive data Signup and view all the answers

What should management do to effectively protect its information against various threats?

Inform themselves about different types of threats Signup and view all the answers

Which mitigation technique is suggested to address denial of service (DoS) attacks?

Rate limiting Signup and view all the answers

What is elevation of privilege in the context of secure programming?

A user gains higher privileges than allowed. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT recommended to mitigate elevation of privilege?

Giving every user admin rights for convenience. Signup and view all the answers

What is an attack surface?

Different points an unauthorized user can exploit. Signup and view all the answers

What is the first step in the attack surface mapping process?

Listing all components. Signup and view all the answers

When rating attack vectors, which example describes a high priority rating?

SQL Injection (high impact, easy to exploit). Signup and view all the answers

Which component does NOT typically interact in an architecture diagram during attack surface mapping?

Network firewall. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a method to identify attack vectors?

Identifying SQL Injection through user input. Signup and view all the answers

Which statement is true regarding attack surface mapping?

It includes drawing diagrams to represent component interactions. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following attack vectors is rated as medium priority?

Cross-Site Scripting. Signup and view all the answers

What is one common source of input for attack surfaces?

Hardware inputs. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Threats

A threat is an object, person, or entity that may pose danger to a system or asset.
Management must be informed about diverse threats to effectively protect information through policies, training, and technical controls.

Threat Modeling

Threat modeling is a process of identifying potential threats through theoretical use cases.
Microsoft STRIDE model covers six categories of attacks: Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, and Elevation of Privilege.
Threat modeling necessitates understanding of assets and vulnerabilities.

STRIDE Threat Modeling

Spoofing of Identity: An attacker pretends to be a legitimate user by stealing credentials (e.g., phishing attacks).
- Mitigation: Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Tampering with Data: An attacker intercepts and modifies data in transit (e.g., changing a bank transaction amount).
- Mitigation: Utilize encryption (like HTTPS) for secure data transmission.
Repudiation: An attacker denies performing an action without leaving any traceable proof.
- Mitigation: Implement secure logging that is tamper-proof to maintain evidence.
Information Disclosure: Sensitive information is exposed to unauthorized individuals (e.g., data breaches).
- Mitigation: Encrypt sensitive data and apply access controls.
Denial of Service (DoS): The system becomes unavailable due to an overload of requests (e.g., DDoS attacks).
- Mitigation: Employ rate limiting and web application firewalls to prevent overwhelming traffic.
Elevation of Privilege: An attacker gains higher system permissions than authorized (e.g., a normal user becomes an administrator).
- Mitigation: Implement role-based access control (RBAC) and limit privilege escalation paths.

Attack Surface Mapping

An attack surface comprises various points where an unauthorized user can infiltrate a system, network, or solution.
Each attack surface has its associated risk, likelihood, and impact.
Sources of attack vectors can be hardware, software/firmware, or communication channels.
Mapping attack surfaces involves creating an architecture diagram to identify and prioritize attack vectors.
- Priority is determined by the ease of exploitation and the potential impact.

Steps in Attack Surface Mapping Process

Listing All Components: Identify components like web servers, application servers, database servers, user interfaces (UI), and third-party API's.
Preparing an Architecture Diagram: Depict how components communicate (e.g., web server to application server, application server to database, external APIs).
Labeling Components & Communication: Label each interaction (e.g., HTTP requests, SQL queries, API requests).
Identifying Attack Vectors: Identify potential attack points (e.g., SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), man-in-the-middle attacks).
Rating Attack Vectors: Assign priority to each attack vector based on impact and ease of exploitation. - High priority: SQL Injection (high impact, easy to exploit) - Medium priority: Cross-Site Scripting (medium impact, moderate difficulty) - Medium priority: Man-in-the-middle attack (high impact, harder to exploit)

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Description

Explore the concept of threats and the importance of threat modeling in cybersecurity. Learn about the Microsoft STRIDE model and how to identify and mitigate potential threats to information systems. This quiz will enhance your understanding of how to protect assets effectively.