Threat modeling (STRIDE, DREAD) in Cybersecurity - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What does the STRIDE acronym stand for in threat modeling?

STRIDE stands for:

• Spoofing - pretending to be someone else
• Tampering - modifying data or code
• Repudiation - denying an action or transaction
• Information Disclosure - exposing information to unauthorized parties
• Denial of Service - making a service unavailable
• Elevation of Privilege - gaining higher access than allowed

beginner

What is the main purpose of threat modeling in cybersecurity?

Threat modeling helps identify, understand, and prioritize potential security threats to a system before they happen. It guides teams to design safer systems by thinking like attackers.

intermediate

How does the DREAD model help in threat assessment?

DREAD scores threats based on five factors:

• Damage potential - How bad is the damage?
• Reproducibility - How easy is it to repeat the attack?
• Exploitability - How easy is it to launch the attack?
• Affected users - How many users are impacted?
• Discoverability - How easy is it to find the vulnerability?

This helps prioritize which threats to fix first.

beginner

Give a real-life example of a Spoofing threat from STRIDE.

Example: Someone pretending to be a trusted friend by using their email address to send fake messages. This tricks the receiver into trusting the message and possibly sharing sensitive info.

beginner

Why is Denial of Service (DoS) considered a serious threat in STRIDE?

DoS attacks make a service or website unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic or requests. This can stop users from accessing important services, causing disruption and loss.

Which STRIDE category involves pretending to be someone else?

A Repudiation

B Tampering

C Spoofing

D Elevation of Privilege

Spoofing means pretending to be another user or system to gain unauthorized access.

In DREAD, what does 'Exploitability' measure?

A How many users are affected

B How easy it is to launch the attack

C How bad the damage is

D How easy it is to find the vulnerability

'Exploitability' measures how easy it is for an attacker to carry out the attack.

Which STRIDE threat involves unauthorized changes to data?

A Tampering

B Information Disclosure

C Denial of Service

D Repudiation

Tampering means modifying data or code without permission.

What is the main goal of threat modeling?

A To create software faster

B To design user interfaces

C To test software performance

D To identify and prioritize security risks

Threat modeling helps find and rank security risks to protect systems better.

Which DREAD factor considers how many users are impacted by a threat?

A Affected users

B Reproducibility

C Damage potential

D Discoverability

'Affected users' measures the number of users harmed if the threat happens.

Explain the STRIDE model and give a simple example for two of its categories.

Think about how attackers might pretend to be someone or block access to a service.

Describe how the DREAD model helps prioritize security threats.

Consider what makes some threats more urgent than others.