Improving Web Application Security: Threats and - CGISecurity

3Threat ModelingIn This Chapter●●OverviewSteps to decompose an application architecture to discover vulnerabilitiesHow to identify and document threats that are relevant to your applicationThreat modeling allows you to systematically identify and rate the threats that aremost likely to affect your system. By identifying and rating threats based on a solidunderstanding of the architecture and implementation of your application, you canaddress threats with appropriate countermeasures in a logical order, starting with thethreats that present the greatest risk.Threat modeling has a structured approach that is far more cost efficient and effectivethan applying security features in a haphazard manner without knowing preciselywhat threats each feature is supposed to address. With a random, “shotgun”approach to security, how do you know when your application is “secure enough,”and how do you know the areas where your application is still vulnerable? In short,until you know your threats, you cannot secure your system.Before You BeginBefore you start the threat modeling process, it is important that you understand thefollowing basic terminology:● Asset. A resource of value, such as the data in a database or on the file system.A system resource.● Threat. A potential occurrence, malicious or otherwise, that might damage orcompromise your assets.