Threat Modeling for Modern Applications
Threat Modeling for Modern Applications Threat modeling helps teams design safer software by imagining attackers and their goals. For modern applications—web apps, mobile apps, and cloud services—this work happens early in design and continues throughout development. The aim is to reduce risk without slowing delivery. Key Concepts Assets and data: what matters most to the business and users. Attack surface: entry points such as APIs, mobile clients, and integration points. Threats and mitigations: categories from STRIDE and practical fixes. Risk and prioritization: balancing likelihood and impact to focus effort. Iteration: revisit as the system evolves. A Simple Threat Model Consider a web app with a login page, a REST API, and a background worker. Data flows include user credentials, tokens, and stored records. Threats include token theft, insecure storage, injection, and misconfigured permissions. For each threat, propose concrete mitigations: use short-lived tokens, store secrets securely, validate inputs, enforce strict access controls, and keep audit logs. A small model like this clarifies where to invest effort. ...