ClawHub

Threat

Prompts

Deep threat modeling workflow—system decomposition, trust boundaries, STRIDE-style threats, mitigations, prioritization, and tracking. Use when designing new features, reviewing architecture, or responding to security requirements (STRIDE, PASTA light).

Install

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Threat Modeling (Deep Workflow)

Threat modeling turns architecture into attack scenarios and mitigations before code hardens incorrectly. It is team-facing—security is a collaborative exercise, not a gate at the end.

When to Offer This Workflow

Trigger conditions:

  • New service, major data flow change, public API, partner integration
  • Compliance asks for “threat model” artifact
  • Post-incident “how do we prevent class of issues”

Initial offer:

Use six stages: (1) scope & assets, (2) diagram & trust boundaries, (3) threats (STRIDE), (4) mitigations & controls, (5) prioritize & owners, (6) validate & iterate. Confirm time box (1–2 hour workshop vs async).

Stage 1: Scope & Assets

Goal: Agree what we model and what we protect.

Questions

  1. In scope: apps, infra, data stores, admin tools, CI/CD?
  2. Crown jewels: data (PII, keys), money, availability, reputation
  3. Adversaries: script kiddies, malicious insiders, nation-state (usually pick realistic tiers)

Output

Scope paragraph + asset list with sensitivity.

Exit condition: Shared understanding of what hurts if lost.

Stage 2: Diagram & Trust Boundaries

Goal: Visual model with boundaries where trust changes.

Practices

  • DFD-ish diagram: external actors, services, data stores, queues
  • Mark trust boundaries: internet boundary, partner VPC, employee laptop, CI system
  • Note auth mechanisms crossing boundaries (mTLS, JWT, API keys)

Pitfalls

  • Missing CI/CD and admin paths—attackers love them
  • Over-detailed diagram—keep level consistent

Exit condition: Diagram everyone in the room recognizes as their system.

Stage 3: Threats (STRIDE)

Goal: Systematic brainstorm—not exhaustive fantasy.

STRIDE prompts

  • Spoofing: impersonation of user/service
  • Tampering: data/code/config changed in transit or at rest
  • Repudiation: actions not attributable—audit gaps
  • Information disclosure: leaks to unauthorized
  • Denial of service: resource exhaustion, dependency attacks
  • Elevation of privilege: user becomes admin, lateral movement

Technique

  • Walk each boundary + each asset with STRIDE columns—rapid ideation, defer judgment
  • Capture threats as short scenarios: “Attacker with leaked API key calls admin endpoint”

Exit condition: Threat list with assumptions stated (e.g., “requires MITM”).

Stage 4: Mitigations & Controls

Goal: Map threats to controls—prevent, detect, respond.

Control types

  • Prevent: authZ checks, input validation, encryption
  • Detect: logging, alerts, IDS, anomaly detection
  • Respond: kill switches, incident playbooks

Avoid

  • Control theater—checkbox without real enforcement

Exit condition: Each high threat has at least one planned control or accepted risk with owner.

Stage 5: Prioritize & Owners

Goal: Ruthless prioritization—fix what matters.

Factors

  • Impact × likelihood (even qualitative MoSCoW)
  • Ease of exploitation vs cost to fix

Tracking

  • Tickets per mitigation; link to threat ID
  • Residual risk explicitly accepted by appropriate authority when not fixed

Exit condition: Roadmap of mitigations with dates.

Stage 6: Validate & Iterate

Goal: Model ages—revisit on major changes.

Triggers for refresh

  • New data flow, new integration, auth redesign
  • Pen test findings that contradict assumptions

Light validation

  • Red team scenarios for top threats if mature org

Final Review Checklist

  • Assets and scope agreed
  • Trust boundaries diagram current
  • STRIDE pass completed for boundaries
  • Mitigations mapped; owners assigned
  • Residual risk explicit where unmitigated

Tips for Effective Guidance

  • Facilitate, don’t lecture—engineers own the system facts.
  • Prefer scenarios over abstract “Tampering risk.”
  • Link to requirements (“every admin action audited”) for traceability.

Handling Deviations

  • No time workshop: async diagram + STRIDE spreadsheet review.
  • Tiny feature: mini threat model—still document trust boundary with external API.
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