Free threat modeling wizard using STRIDE and DREAD methodologies. Identify threats, score risks, and generate mitigation plans with PDF export.
Threat modeling is a structured approach to identifying, quantifying, and addressing security threats to a system. Rather than waiting for vulnerabilities to be discovered through penetration testing or real attacks, threat modeling proactively analyzes system architecture to find potential weaknesses before code is written or infrastructure is deployed.
Threat modeling answers four fundamental questions: What are we building? What can go wrong? What are we going to do about it? Did we do a good job? This systematic process is recommended by OWASP, NIST, and Microsoft as an essential component of secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC) practices.
| Framework | Approach | Best For | Key Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| STRIDE | Categorize threats by type | Software applications | Threat list organized by S/T/R/I/D/E categories |
| PASTA | Risk-centric, 7-stage process | Business-aligned security | Risk-ranked threat library with attack trees |
| LINDDUN | Privacy-focused threat categories | Privacy-sensitive systems | Privacy threat catalog |
| VAST | Visual, agile, scalable | Enterprise and agile teams | Application and operational threat models |
| Attack Trees | Hierarchical decomposition of attacks | Specific attack scenarios | Tree diagrams showing attack paths and prerequisites |
| OCTAVE | Organizational risk assessment | Enterprise risk management | Risk profiles and protection strategies |
| Category | Threat Type | Example | Countermeasure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spoofing | Pretending to be someone else | Forged authentication tokens | Strong authentication, MFA |
| Tampering | Modifying data without authorization | SQL injection, man-in-the-middle | Input validation, integrity checks |
| Repudiation | Denying an action was performed | Deleting audit logs | Secure logging, digital signatures |
| Information Disclosure | Exposing data to unauthorized parties | Unencrypted data in transit | Encryption, access controls |
| Denial of Service | Making a system unavailable | DDoS attacks, resource exhaustion | Rate limiting, redundancy |
| Elevation of Privilege | Gaining unauthorized access levels | Exploiting vulnerabilities for admin access | Least privilege, input validation |
STRIDE is a threat classification framework developed by Microsoft. Each letter represents a threat category: Spoofing (identity), Tampering (data integrity), Repudiation (deniability), Information Disclosure (confidentiality), Denial of Service (availability), and Elevation of Privilege (authorization). It helps systematically identify threats to a system.
DREAD scores each threat on five criteria from 1-10: Damage potential, Reproducibility, Exploitability, Affected users, and Discoverability. The overall DREAD score is the average of all five values (sum divided by 5). Higher scores indicate more critical threats that should be prioritized for mitigation.
Threat modeling should be performed during the design phase of any system or application, before significant code is written. It should be revisited when the architecture changes, new features are added, or new threat intelligence emerges. Regular reviews (at least annually) help catch evolving threats.
STRIDE focuses on threat categories and is best for application-level analysis. PASTA (Process for Attack Simulation and Threat Analysis) is risk-centric with 7 stages. VAST (Visual, Agile, and Simple Threat) scales for enterprise use. Attack trees map specific attack paths. This tool uses STRIDE for identification and DREAD for prioritization.
Use DREAD scores to rank threats numerically. Focus first on threats with high Damage and Exploitability scores, as these represent the greatest risk. Consider your risk appetite and budget when deciding which threats to accept, mitigate, transfer, or avoid. The tool generates a prioritized mitigation plan based on scores.
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