Threat Modelling: A Complete Guide
You're under pressure. Systems are more complex than ever. Stakeholders demand security assurances, but you're operating with outdated checklists or fragmented tools that don't scale. Every sprint introduces new risks. Every architecture diagram hides blind spots. And if a breach happens? You'll be the one held accountable. What if you could shift left with precision, spot threats before they materialize, and speak confidently to executives about risk impact-not just technical jargon? This isn’t about adding more steps to your workflow. It’s about mastering Threat Modelling: A Complete Guide, the only systematic approach that turns uncertainty into proactive control. Imagine delivering a fully documented, board-ready threat model in under 30 days-mapping every entry point, identifying critical attack vectors, and aligning security with development velocity. No guesswork. No reactive scrambling. Just clarity, confidence, and measurable risk reduction. One senior security architect at a Fortune 500 fintech used this exact framework to reduce high-risk vulnerabilities in a core payment platform by 74% pre-deployment. His model was presented directly to the CISO and became the new standard across eight product teams. This isn’t theoretical. It’s how elite security professionals get funded, recognised, and future-proofed. They don’t wait for incidents to act. They model, mitigate, and mandate. Here’s how this course is structured to help you get there.Course Format & Delivery Details Self-Paced. Immediate Online Access. Lifetime Updates. This course is designed for working professionals who need flexibility without compromise. Access the full materials on-demand, with no fixed dates, deadlines, or time commitments-learn at your pace, on your schedule. What You Can Expect
- Typical completion time: 25–35 hours, with many learners applying core techniques to real projects in under 10 days
- Lifetime access to all course content, including every future update at no additional cost
- 24/7 global access with full mobile compatibility-review threat matrices on your phone, refine models on your tablet, annotate frameworks from any location
- Dedicated instructor support via structured guidance pathways, curated feedback loops, and expert-reviewed templates to ensure accuracy and practical relevance
- Upon completion, earn a Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service, a globally trusted name in professional training, widely recognised by security leaders, compliance boards, and enterprise hiring teams
The pricing structure is straightforward with no hidden fees. You pay once, gain full access, and keep it forever. No subscriptions. No surprises. All major payment methods are accepted, including Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. Zero-Risk Enrollment Guarantee
If after completing the course you find that your ability to construct accurate, actionable threat models has not improved dramatically, you’re covered by our satisfied or refunded promise. There is no risk in starting today. After enrollment, you will receive a confirmation email. Your access details will be delivered separately once the course materials are ready-ensuring a secure and structured onboarding process. “Will This Work For Me?” - We’ve Designed It To
This course works even if you’re not a security specialist. Even if you’ve only run informal threat reviews. Even if your organisation lacks formal processes. Software developers use it to integrate threat analysis into CI/CD pipelines. Cloud architects apply it to secure multi-account AWS environments. Product managers adopt it to prioritise risk-aware backlogs. Compliance officers leverage it to satisfy ISO 27001, SOC 2, and NIST requirements with auditable documentation. A DevSecOps lead at a healthcare SaaS company used the STRIDE-LM framework from Module 5 to identify an authentication bypass risk in an API gateway-before go-live. The fix took 3 hours. The potential cost of missing it? Over $2M in breach penalties and reputational damage. The system is built for real-world conditions: time pressure, limited resources, evolving threats. With clear scaffolding, role-specific examples, and iterative practice, you’ll move from uncertainty to mastery-without needing prior modelling experience. Safety, clarity, and confidence are built into every section. You’re not gambling on vague promises. You’re investing in a repeatable, documented skill that compounds in value across every project you touch.
Module 1: Foundations of Threat Modelling - Definition and purpose of threat modelling in modern software development
- Core objectives: confidentiality, integrity, availability, authenticity, non-repudiation
- How threat modelling differs from vulnerability scanning and penetration testing
- Historical evolution: from military-grade models to agile DevSecOps integration
- Key benefits: risk reduction, cost savings, compliance alignment, and faster incident response
- Common misconceptions and how this course corrects them
- When to conduct threat modelling: design phase, major changes, incident follow-up
- Understanding trust boundaries and their strategic importance
- Identifying assets worth protecting: data, systems, reputation, and regulatory standing
- Mapping stakeholders: developers, security teams, legal, C-suite, auditors
- Security requirements derivation from business-critical functions
- Integrating threat modelling into SDLC: waterfall, agile, and CI/CD contexts
- Regulatory drivers: GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, NIST 800-30
- Cost of delay: calculating ROI for early threat discovery
- Case study: how a delayed threat model led to a $4M breach
Module 2: Core Threat Modelling Frameworks - Overview of the four primary threat modelling methodologies
- STRIDE: detailed breakdown of Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, Elevation of Privilege
- How to apply STRIDE to data flows, processes, and endpoints
- DREAD scoring model: likelihood and impact assessment
- Practical limitations of DREAD and modern adaptations
- PASTA: Process for Attack Simulation and Threat Analysis
- PASTA’s seven-stage lifecycle: from definition to risk alignment
- Trike: risk-based, requirements-focused methodology for compliance-heavy environments
- VAST: scalable, automation-friendly approach for large development organisations
- Choosing the right framework for your team, sector, and delivery model
- Hybrid approaches: combining STRIDE with PASTA for board-level reporting
- Benchmark comparisons: accuracy, speed, and usability across frameworks
- Aligning framework choice with organisational culture and maturity
- Building custom threat taxonomies for niche domains
- Anti-patterns: when frameworks are misapplied or over-complicated
Module 3: Data Flow Diagramming & System Visualisation - Why visual models are non-negotiable for effective threat analysis
- Rules for creating accurate, scalable data flow diagrams (DFDs)
- Identifying external entities, processes, data stores, and data flows
- Hierarchical decomposition: level 0, level 1, and context diagrams
- Standard DFD notation: Gane-Sarson vs. Yourdon-Coad
- Using boundary contexts to frame security scope
- Representing APIs, microservices, serverless components, and event queues
- Modelling cloud architectures: AWS, Azure, GCP component mapping
- Incorporating identity providers and third-party services
- Tools for creating DFDs: free and enterprise options
- Best practices for labelling, version control, and audit trails
- Collaborative diagramming with cross-functional teams
- Automated DFD generation from code repositories and architecture docs
- Validating DFDs against actual system behaviour
- Common diagramming errors and how to avoid them
- Integrating DFDs into threat model documentation
Module 4: Attacker Perspective & Threat Catalogs - Thinking like an attacker: motivation, capability, and opportunity
- Understanding attacker personas: insider, script kiddie, APT, nation-state
- MitRE ATT&CK framework: integration with threat modelling
- Mapping MITRE techniques to system components and data flows
- OWASP Threat Dragon: using open-source threat libraries
- Creating reusable threat catalogs for your organisation
- Common threat patterns: injection, broken access control, insecure deserialisation
- Cloud-specific threats: misconfigured S3 buckets, IAM vulnerabilities, insecure APIs
- Container and Kubernetes attack surfaces
- DevOps pipeline threats: compromised artefacts, poisoned dependencies
- Supply chain risks: third-party libraries, open-source components
- IaC security: detecting risks in Terraform and CloudFormation templates
- Mobile app threat profiles: runtime manipulation, insecure storage
- IoT and edge computing threat vectors
- AI/ML system threats: data poisoning, model stealing, adversarial inputs
- Threat intelligence integration: feeding IOCs into models
Module 5: STRIDE-LM: Advanced Application & Mitigation - STRIDE-LM: extending STRIDE with Likelihood and Mitigation scoring
- Step-by-step STRIDE-LM walkthrough on a real authentication service
- Mapping threats to specific components using DFDs
- Scoring likelihood: historical data, exploit availability, access requirements
- Assessing impact: data loss, system downtime, financial, reputational
- Calculating risk priority: high, medium, low categorisation
- Mitigation strategies for each STRIDE category
- Authentication hardening for spoofing threats
- Data integrity controls for tampering
- Audit logging and sequence numbering for repudiation risks
- Encryption strategies for information disclosure
- Rate limiting, resource quotas, and failover design for DoS
- Principle of least privilege and role-based access for privilege escalation
- Validating mitigations against control frameworks like NIST CSF
- Documenting residual risk and obtaining risk acceptance
- Integrating STRIDE-LM outputs into Jira and service desks
Module 6: Automation & Tooling Ecosystem - Overview of automated threat modelling tools
- Choosing tools based on team size, tech stack, and delivery speed
- ThreatModeler vs IriusRisk vs Microsoft Threat Modelling Tool
- Open-source options: PyTM, Threat Dragon, OWASP ThreatMM
- Integrating tooling into CI/CD: automated security gates
- API-based model ingestion and validation
- Using YAML/JSON templates for consistent threat model creation
- Automated DFD generation from OpenAPI specs and architecture as code
- Static application security testing (SAST) integration
- Dynamic analysis correlation with threat model predictions
- Model validation: ensuring completeness and consistency
- Exporting threat models to PDF, Confluence, SharePoint
- Version control for threat models using Git
- Automated alerting for unmodelled components in production
- Scaling threat modelling across large portfolios
- Reducing false positives through precise model scope
Module 7: Hands-On Threat Modelling Workshops - Designing effective threat modelling sessions
- Facilitation techniques for technical and non-technical audiences
- Running remote workshops with distributed teams
- Agenda templates for 60-minute, 90-minute, and half-day sessions
- Preparing pre-work: architecture docs, DFDs, user stories
- Role assignment: facilitator, scribe, technical lead, product owner
- Question-driven threat discovery: using cheat sheets and prompt lists
- Using the Elevation of Privilege (EoP) card game by Microsoft
- Post-workshop actions: tracking findings, assigning ownership
- Measuring workshop effectiveness: time saved, vulnerabilities prevented
- Scaling across teams: establishing cadence and ownership
- Integrating workshops into sprint planning and retrospectives
- Creating internal champions and train-the-trainer programmes
- Securing executive buy-in with clear metrics and deliverables
- Overcoming common cultural resistance points
- Remote collaboration tools: Miro, FigJam, Lucidchart integration
Module 8: Cloud & Modern Architecture Threat Modelling - Shared responsibility model in AWS, Azure, GCP
- Modelling IAM policies and permission boundaries
- Identifying over-privileged roles and lateral movement paths
- Serverless threat surfaces: Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run
- Event-driven architecture threats: pub/sub, message queues
- Microservices communication: mTLS, service mesh, API gateways
- Data encryption in transit and at rest across regions
- Multi-account and multi-tenant architecture risks
- Container security: image scanning, runtime protection, orchestration risks
- Kubernetes threat modelling: API server, etcd, kubelet exposures
- Serverless function injection and environment variable leaks
- CDN and edge computing attack vectors
- Secrets management: detecting hardcoded credentials in models
- Real-time data pipelines: Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub security
- Zero-trust architecture integration with threat models
- Monitoring gaps: ensuring detection coverage for modelled threats
Module 9: Compliance, Audit & Governance Integration - Using threat models as evidence for compliance audits
- Mapping threats to control objectives in ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST 800-53
- Demonstrating due diligence to regulators and executives
- Integrating threat modelling into GRC platforms
- Creating auditable threat model artefacts with timestamps and approvals
- Documenting risk acceptance decisions with justification
- Versioning and retention policies for threat model records
- Third-party risk assessment using shared threat models
- Consolidating models for enterprise risk dashboards
- Linking threat models to patch management and vulnerability response
- Supporting business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Insurance requirements: proving proactive risk management
- Board reporting: summarising key risks and mitigation status
- Creating executive summaries from detailed technical models
- Using threat models in vendor security questionnaires
- Legal defensibility: showing reasonable security efforts
Module 10: AI-Powered & Adaptive Threat Modelling - Next-generation modelling: using AI for threat suggestion
- Machine learning models for likelihood prediction
- Natural language processing for extracting threats from design docs
- Graph-based analysis for identifying attack paths
- Automated attack simulation using model data
- Predictive modelling: forecasting high-risk components
- Feedback loops: improving models based on incident data
- Dynamic model updating in response to configuration changes
- Integrating SIEM alerts into model refinement
- Using LLMs responsibly for threat brainstorming
- Validating AI-generated threats with human expertise
- Avoiding hallucination and overfitting in AI-aided models
- Custom prompts for robust threat generation
- Alert fatigue reduction through precise model scope
- Future trends: autonomous security modelling agents
- Ethical considerations in automated threat discovery
Module 11: Real-World Project Application - Step-by-step threat model for a secure e-commerce platform
- Modelling user registration, payment processing, inventory APIs
- Identifying PII handling risks and GDPR compliance gaps
- Threat model for a cloud-native healthcare app with HIPAA requirements
- Handling PHI, audit trails, and access logging
- Banking backend: securing transaction processing and fund transfers
- Anti-fraud mechanisms and dual control requirements
- IoT smart home system: device authentication, update mechanisms
- Mobile app with biometric login and offline access
- Supply chain portal with third-party integrations
- Single sign-on via OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Microservices architecture with gRPC communication
- Serverless notification system with SNS/SQS
- Hybrid on-prem and cloud HR system
- Legacy system integration risks and data synchronisation threats
- Drafting executive summary and risk register for each case
Module 12: Certification, Career Advancement & Next Steps - Final assessment: building a complete threat model from scratch
- Submission process for Certificate of Completion
- Earning your Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service
- Verifiable credential: shareable digital badge for LinkedIn and portfolios
- How to list this certification on your CV and in job applications
- Leveraging the certification in salary negotiations and promotions
- Building a personal threat model library as a professional portfolio
- Contributing to open-source threat model repositories
- Joining global threat modelling communities and forums
- Presenting your work internally to gain visibility
- Continuous learning path: advanced certifications and specialisations
- Staying current: update notifications and expert curation
- Accessing updated threat libraries and frameworks for life
- Progress tracking: completed modules, skills mastered, projects finished
- Gamification elements: milestones, achievement badges, skill levels
- Your next 90 days: implementing threat modelling in your team
- Creating a 30-60-90 day rollout plan for organisational adoption
- Measuring success: reduced vulnerabilities, faster incident response, audit outcomes
- Definition and purpose of threat modelling in modern software development
- Core objectives: confidentiality, integrity, availability, authenticity, non-repudiation
- How threat modelling differs from vulnerability scanning and penetration testing
- Historical evolution: from military-grade models to agile DevSecOps integration
- Key benefits: risk reduction, cost savings, compliance alignment, and faster incident response
- Common misconceptions and how this course corrects them
- When to conduct threat modelling: design phase, major changes, incident follow-up
- Understanding trust boundaries and their strategic importance
- Identifying assets worth protecting: data, systems, reputation, and regulatory standing
- Mapping stakeholders: developers, security teams, legal, C-suite, auditors
- Security requirements derivation from business-critical functions
- Integrating threat modelling into SDLC: waterfall, agile, and CI/CD contexts
- Regulatory drivers: GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, NIST 800-30
- Cost of delay: calculating ROI for early threat discovery
- Case study: how a delayed threat model led to a $4M breach
Module 2: Core Threat Modelling Frameworks - Overview of the four primary threat modelling methodologies
- STRIDE: detailed breakdown of Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, Elevation of Privilege
- How to apply STRIDE to data flows, processes, and endpoints
- DREAD scoring model: likelihood and impact assessment
- Practical limitations of DREAD and modern adaptations
- PASTA: Process for Attack Simulation and Threat Analysis
- PASTA’s seven-stage lifecycle: from definition to risk alignment
- Trike: risk-based, requirements-focused methodology for compliance-heavy environments
- VAST: scalable, automation-friendly approach for large development organisations
- Choosing the right framework for your team, sector, and delivery model
- Hybrid approaches: combining STRIDE with PASTA for board-level reporting
- Benchmark comparisons: accuracy, speed, and usability across frameworks
- Aligning framework choice with organisational culture and maturity
- Building custom threat taxonomies for niche domains
- Anti-patterns: when frameworks are misapplied or over-complicated
Module 3: Data Flow Diagramming & System Visualisation - Why visual models are non-negotiable for effective threat analysis
- Rules for creating accurate, scalable data flow diagrams (DFDs)
- Identifying external entities, processes, data stores, and data flows
- Hierarchical decomposition: level 0, level 1, and context diagrams
- Standard DFD notation: Gane-Sarson vs. Yourdon-Coad
- Using boundary contexts to frame security scope
- Representing APIs, microservices, serverless components, and event queues
- Modelling cloud architectures: AWS, Azure, GCP component mapping
- Incorporating identity providers and third-party services
- Tools for creating DFDs: free and enterprise options
- Best practices for labelling, version control, and audit trails
- Collaborative diagramming with cross-functional teams
- Automated DFD generation from code repositories and architecture docs
- Validating DFDs against actual system behaviour
- Common diagramming errors and how to avoid them
- Integrating DFDs into threat model documentation
Module 4: Attacker Perspective & Threat Catalogs - Thinking like an attacker: motivation, capability, and opportunity
- Understanding attacker personas: insider, script kiddie, APT, nation-state
- MitRE ATT&CK framework: integration with threat modelling
- Mapping MITRE techniques to system components and data flows
- OWASP Threat Dragon: using open-source threat libraries
- Creating reusable threat catalogs for your organisation
- Common threat patterns: injection, broken access control, insecure deserialisation
- Cloud-specific threats: misconfigured S3 buckets, IAM vulnerabilities, insecure APIs
- Container and Kubernetes attack surfaces
- DevOps pipeline threats: compromised artefacts, poisoned dependencies
- Supply chain risks: third-party libraries, open-source components
- IaC security: detecting risks in Terraform and CloudFormation templates
- Mobile app threat profiles: runtime manipulation, insecure storage
- IoT and edge computing threat vectors
- AI/ML system threats: data poisoning, model stealing, adversarial inputs
- Threat intelligence integration: feeding IOCs into models
Module 5: STRIDE-LM: Advanced Application & Mitigation - STRIDE-LM: extending STRIDE with Likelihood and Mitigation scoring
- Step-by-step STRIDE-LM walkthrough on a real authentication service
- Mapping threats to specific components using DFDs
- Scoring likelihood: historical data, exploit availability, access requirements
- Assessing impact: data loss, system downtime, financial, reputational
- Calculating risk priority: high, medium, low categorisation
- Mitigation strategies for each STRIDE category
- Authentication hardening for spoofing threats
- Data integrity controls for tampering
- Audit logging and sequence numbering for repudiation risks
- Encryption strategies for information disclosure
- Rate limiting, resource quotas, and failover design for DoS
- Principle of least privilege and role-based access for privilege escalation
- Validating mitigations against control frameworks like NIST CSF
- Documenting residual risk and obtaining risk acceptance
- Integrating STRIDE-LM outputs into Jira and service desks
Module 6: Automation & Tooling Ecosystem - Overview of automated threat modelling tools
- Choosing tools based on team size, tech stack, and delivery speed
- ThreatModeler vs IriusRisk vs Microsoft Threat Modelling Tool
- Open-source options: PyTM, Threat Dragon, OWASP ThreatMM
- Integrating tooling into CI/CD: automated security gates
- API-based model ingestion and validation
- Using YAML/JSON templates for consistent threat model creation
- Automated DFD generation from OpenAPI specs and architecture as code
- Static application security testing (SAST) integration
- Dynamic analysis correlation with threat model predictions
- Model validation: ensuring completeness and consistency
- Exporting threat models to PDF, Confluence, SharePoint
- Version control for threat models using Git
- Automated alerting for unmodelled components in production
- Scaling threat modelling across large portfolios
- Reducing false positives through precise model scope
Module 7: Hands-On Threat Modelling Workshops - Designing effective threat modelling sessions
- Facilitation techniques for technical and non-technical audiences
- Running remote workshops with distributed teams
- Agenda templates for 60-minute, 90-minute, and half-day sessions
- Preparing pre-work: architecture docs, DFDs, user stories
- Role assignment: facilitator, scribe, technical lead, product owner
- Question-driven threat discovery: using cheat sheets and prompt lists
- Using the Elevation of Privilege (EoP) card game by Microsoft
- Post-workshop actions: tracking findings, assigning ownership
- Measuring workshop effectiveness: time saved, vulnerabilities prevented
- Scaling across teams: establishing cadence and ownership
- Integrating workshops into sprint planning and retrospectives
- Creating internal champions and train-the-trainer programmes
- Securing executive buy-in with clear metrics and deliverables
- Overcoming common cultural resistance points
- Remote collaboration tools: Miro, FigJam, Lucidchart integration
Module 8: Cloud & Modern Architecture Threat Modelling - Shared responsibility model in AWS, Azure, GCP
- Modelling IAM policies and permission boundaries
- Identifying over-privileged roles and lateral movement paths
- Serverless threat surfaces: Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run
- Event-driven architecture threats: pub/sub, message queues
- Microservices communication: mTLS, service mesh, API gateways
- Data encryption in transit and at rest across regions
- Multi-account and multi-tenant architecture risks
- Container security: image scanning, runtime protection, orchestration risks
- Kubernetes threat modelling: API server, etcd, kubelet exposures
- Serverless function injection and environment variable leaks
- CDN and edge computing attack vectors
- Secrets management: detecting hardcoded credentials in models
- Real-time data pipelines: Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub security
- Zero-trust architecture integration with threat models
- Monitoring gaps: ensuring detection coverage for modelled threats
Module 9: Compliance, Audit & Governance Integration - Using threat models as evidence for compliance audits
- Mapping threats to control objectives in ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST 800-53
- Demonstrating due diligence to regulators and executives
- Integrating threat modelling into GRC platforms
- Creating auditable threat model artefacts with timestamps and approvals
- Documenting risk acceptance decisions with justification
- Versioning and retention policies for threat model records
- Third-party risk assessment using shared threat models
- Consolidating models for enterprise risk dashboards
- Linking threat models to patch management and vulnerability response
- Supporting business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Insurance requirements: proving proactive risk management
- Board reporting: summarising key risks and mitigation status
- Creating executive summaries from detailed technical models
- Using threat models in vendor security questionnaires
- Legal defensibility: showing reasonable security efforts
Module 10: AI-Powered & Adaptive Threat Modelling - Next-generation modelling: using AI for threat suggestion
- Machine learning models for likelihood prediction
- Natural language processing for extracting threats from design docs
- Graph-based analysis for identifying attack paths
- Automated attack simulation using model data
- Predictive modelling: forecasting high-risk components
- Feedback loops: improving models based on incident data
- Dynamic model updating in response to configuration changes
- Integrating SIEM alerts into model refinement
- Using LLMs responsibly for threat brainstorming
- Validating AI-generated threats with human expertise
- Avoiding hallucination and overfitting in AI-aided models
- Custom prompts for robust threat generation
- Alert fatigue reduction through precise model scope
- Future trends: autonomous security modelling agents
- Ethical considerations in automated threat discovery
Module 11: Real-World Project Application - Step-by-step threat model for a secure e-commerce platform
- Modelling user registration, payment processing, inventory APIs
- Identifying PII handling risks and GDPR compliance gaps
- Threat model for a cloud-native healthcare app with HIPAA requirements
- Handling PHI, audit trails, and access logging
- Banking backend: securing transaction processing and fund transfers
- Anti-fraud mechanisms and dual control requirements
- IoT smart home system: device authentication, update mechanisms
- Mobile app with biometric login and offline access
- Supply chain portal with third-party integrations
- Single sign-on via OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Microservices architecture with gRPC communication
- Serverless notification system with SNS/SQS
- Hybrid on-prem and cloud HR system
- Legacy system integration risks and data synchronisation threats
- Drafting executive summary and risk register for each case
Module 12: Certification, Career Advancement & Next Steps - Final assessment: building a complete threat model from scratch
- Submission process for Certificate of Completion
- Earning your Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service
- Verifiable credential: shareable digital badge for LinkedIn and portfolios
- How to list this certification on your CV and in job applications
- Leveraging the certification in salary negotiations and promotions
- Building a personal threat model library as a professional portfolio
- Contributing to open-source threat model repositories
- Joining global threat modelling communities and forums
- Presenting your work internally to gain visibility
- Continuous learning path: advanced certifications and specialisations
- Staying current: update notifications and expert curation
- Accessing updated threat libraries and frameworks for life
- Progress tracking: completed modules, skills mastered, projects finished
- Gamification elements: milestones, achievement badges, skill levels
- Your next 90 days: implementing threat modelling in your team
- Creating a 30-60-90 day rollout plan for organisational adoption
- Measuring success: reduced vulnerabilities, faster incident response, audit outcomes
- Why visual models are non-negotiable for effective threat analysis
- Rules for creating accurate, scalable data flow diagrams (DFDs)
- Identifying external entities, processes, data stores, and data flows
- Hierarchical decomposition: level 0, level 1, and context diagrams
- Standard DFD notation: Gane-Sarson vs. Yourdon-Coad
- Using boundary contexts to frame security scope
- Representing APIs, microservices, serverless components, and event queues
- Modelling cloud architectures: AWS, Azure, GCP component mapping
- Incorporating identity providers and third-party services
- Tools for creating DFDs: free and enterprise options
- Best practices for labelling, version control, and audit trails
- Collaborative diagramming with cross-functional teams
- Automated DFD generation from code repositories and architecture docs
- Validating DFDs against actual system behaviour
- Common diagramming errors and how to avoid them
- Integrating DFDs into threat model documentation
Module 4: Attacker Perspective & Threat Catalogs - Thinking like an attacker: motivation, capability, and opportunity
- Understanding attacker personas: insider, script kiddie, APT, nation-state
- MitRE ATT&CK framework: integration with threat modelling
- Mapping MITRE techniques to system components and data flows
- OWASP Threat Dragon: using open-source threat libraries
- Creating reusable threat catalogs for your organisation
- Common threat patterns: injection, broken access control, insecure deserialisation
- Cloud-specific threats: misconfigured S3 buckets, IAM vulnerabilities, insecure APIs
- Container and Kubernetes attack surfaces
- DevOps pipeline threats: compromised artefacts, poisoned dependencies
- Supply chain risks: third-party libraries, open-source components
- IaC security: detecting risks in Terraform and CloudFormation templates
- Mobile app threat profiles: runtime manipulation, insecure storage
- IoT and edge computing threat vectors
- AI/ML system threats: data poisoning, model stealing, adversarial inputs
- Threat intelligence integration: feeding IOCs into models
Module 5: STRIDE-LM: Advanced Application & Mitigation - STRIDE-LM: extending STRIDE with Likelihood and Mitigation scoring
- Step-by-step STRIDE-LM walkthrough on a real authentication service
- Mapping threats to specific components using DFDs
- Scoring likelihood: historical data, exploit availability, access requirements
- Assessing impact: data loss, system downtime, financial, reputational
- Calculating risk priority: high, medium, low categorisation
- Mitigation strategies for each STRIDE category
- Authentication hardening for spoofing threats
- Data integrity controls for tampering
- Audit logging and sequence numbering for repudiation risks
- Encryption strategies for information disclosure
- Rate limiting, resource quotas, and failover design for DoS
- Principle of least privilege and role-based access for privilege escalation
- Validating mitigations against control frameworks like NIST CSF
- Documenting residual risk and obtaining risk acceptance
- Integrating STRIDE-LM outputs into Jira and service desks
Module 6: Automation & Tooling Ecosystem - Overview of automated threat modelling tools
- Choosing tools based on team size, tech stack, and delivery speed
- ThreatModeler vs IriusRisk vs Microsoft Threat Modelling Tool
- Open-source options: PyTM, Threat Dragon, OWASP ThreatMM
- Integrating tooling into CI/CD: automated security gates
- API-based model ingestion and validation
- Using YAML/JSON templates for consistent threat model creation
- Automated DFD generation from OpenAPI specs and architecture as code
- Static application security testing (SAST) integration
- Dynamic analysis correlation with threat model predictions
- Model validation: ensuring completeness and consistency
- Exporting threat models to PDF, Confluence, SharePoint
- Version control for threat models using Git
- Automated alerting for unmodelled components in production
- Scaling threat modelling across large portfolios
- Reducing false positives through precise model scope
Module 7: Hands-On Threat Modelling Workshops - Designing effective threat modelling sessions
- Facilitation techniques for technical and non-technical audiences
- Running remote workshops with distributed teams
- Agenda templates for 60-minute, 90-minute, and half-day sessions
- Preparing pre-work: architecture docs, DFDs, user stories
- Role assignment: facilitator, scribe, technical lead, product owner
- Question-driven threat discovery: using cheat sheets and prompt lists
- Using the Elevation of Privilege (EoP) card game by Microsoft
- Post-workshop actions: tracking findings, assigning ownership
- Measuring workshop effectiveness: time saved, vulnerabilities prevented
- Scaling across teams: establishing cadence and ownership
- Integrating workshops into sprint planning and retrospectives
- Creating internal champions and train-the-trainer programmes
- Securing executive buy-in with clear metrics and deliverables
- Overcoming common cultural resistance points
- Remote collaboration tools: Miro, FigJam, Lucidchart integration
Module 8: Cloud & Modern Architecture Threat Modelling - Shared responsibility model in AWS, Azure, GCP
- Modelling IAM policies and permission boundaries
- Identifying over-privileged roles and lateral movement paths
- Serverless threat surfaces: Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run
- Event-driven architecture threats: pub/sub, message queues
- Microservices communication: mTLS, service mesh, API gateways
- Data encryption in transit and at rest across regions
- Multi-account and multi-tenant architecture risks
- Container security: image scanning, runtime protection, orchestration risks
- Kubernetes threat modelling: API server, etcd, kubelet exposures
- Serverless function injection and environment variable leaks
- CDN and edge computing attack vectors
- Secrets management: detecting hardcoded credentials in models
- Real-time data pipelines: Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub security
- Zero-trust architecture integration with threat models
- Monitoring gaps: ensuring detection coverage for modelled threats
Module 9: Compliance, Audit & Governance Integration - Using threat models as evidence for compliance audits
- Mapping threats to control objectives in ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST 800-53
- Demonstrating due diligence to regulators and executives
- Integrating threat modelling into GRC platforms
- Creating auditable threat model artefacts with timestamps and approvals
- Documenting risk acceptance decisions with justification
- Versioning and retention policies for threat model records
- Third-party risk assessment using shared threat models
- Consolidating models for enterprise risk dashboards
- Linking threat models to patch management and vulnerability response
- Supporting business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Insurance requirements: proving proactive risk management
- Board reporting: summarising key risks and mitigation status
- Creating executive summaries from detailed technical models
- Using threat models in vendor security questionnaires
- Legal defensibility: showing reasonable security efforts
Module 10: AI-Powered & Adaptive Threat Modelling - Next-generation modelling: using AI for threat suggestion
- Machine learning models for likelihood prediction
- Natural language processing for extracting threats from design docs
- Graph-based analysis for identifying attack paths
- Automated attack simulation using model data
- Predictive modelling: forecasting high-risk components
- Feedback loops: improving models based on incident data
- Dynamic model updating in response to configuration changes
- Integrating SIEM alerts into model refinement
- Using LLMs responsibly for threat brainstorming
- Validating AI-generated threats with human expertise
- Avoiding hallucination and overfitting in AI-aided models
- Custom prompts for robust threat generation
- Alert fatigue reduction through precise model scope
- Future trends: autonomous security modelling agents
- Ethical considerations in automated threat discovery
Module 11: Real-World Project Application - Step-by-step threat model for a secure e-commerce platform
- Modelling user registration, payment processing, inventory APIs
- Identifying PII handling risks and GDPR compliance gaps
- Threat model for a cloud-native healthcare app with HIPAA requirements
- Handling PHI, audit trails, and access logging
- Banking backend: securing transaction processing and fund transfers
- Anti-fraud mechanisms and dual control requirements
- IoT smart home system: device authentication, update mechanisms
- Mobile app with biometric login and offline access
- Supply chain portal with third-party integrations
- Single sign-on via OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Microservices architecture with gRPC communication
- Serverless notification system with SNS/SQS
- Hybrid on-prem and cloud HR system
- Legacy system integration risks and data synchronisation threats
- Drafting executive summary and risk register for each case
Module 12: Certification, Career Advancement & Next Steps - Final assessment: building a complete threat model from scratch
- Submission process for Certificate of Completion
- Earning your Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service
- Verifiable credential: shareable digital badge for LinkedIn and portfolios
- How to list this certification on your CV and in job applications
- Leveraging the certification in salary negotiations and promotions
- Building a personal threat model library as a professional portfolio
- Contributing to open-source threat model repositories
- Joining global threat modelling communities and forums
- Presenting your work internally to gain visibility
- Continuous learning path: advanced certifications and specialisations
- Staying current: update notifications and expert curation
- Accessing updated threat libraries and frameworks for life
- Progress tracking: completed modules, skills mastered, projects finished
- Gamification elements: milestones, achievement badges, skill levels
- Your next 90 days: implementing threat modelling in your team
- Creating a 30-60-90 day rollout plan for organisational adoption
- Measuring success: reduced vulnerabilities, faster incident response, audit outcomes
- STRIDE-LM: extending STRIDE with Likelihood and Mitigation scoring
- Step-by-step STRIDE-LM walkthrough on a real authentication service
- Mapping threats to specific components using DFDs
- Scoring likelihood: historical data, exploit availability, access requirements
- Assessing impact: data loss, system downtime, financial, reputational
- Calculating risk priority: high, medium, low categorisation
- Mitigation strategies for each STRIDE category
- Authentication hardening for spoofing threats
- Data integrity controls for tampering
- Audit logging and sequence numbering for repudiation risks
- Encryption strategies for information disclosure
- Rate limiting, resource quotas, and failover design for DoS
- Principle of least privilege and role-based access for privilege escalation
- Validating mitigations against control frameworks like NIST CSF
- Documenting residual risk and obtaining risk acceptance
- Integrating STRIDE-LM outputs into Jira and service desks
Module 6: Automation & Tooling Ecosystem - Overview of automated threat modelling tools
- Choosing tools based on team size, tech stack, and delivery speed
- ThreatModeler vs IriusRisk vs Microsoft Threat Modelling Tool
- Open-source options: PyTM, Threat Dragon, OWASP ThreatMM
- Integrating tooling into CI/CD: automated security gates
- API-based model ingestion and validation
- Using YAML/JSON templates for consistent threat model creation
- Automated DFD generation from OpenAPI specs and architecture as code
- Static application security testing (SAST) integration
- Dynamic analysis correlation with threat model predictions
- Model validation: ensuring completeness and consistency
- Exporting threat models to PDF, Confluence, SharePoint
- Version control for threat models using Git
- Automated alerting for unmodelled components in production
- Scaling threat modelling across large portfolios
- Reducing false positives through precise model scope
Module 7: Hands-On Threat Modelling Workshops - Designing effective threat modelling sessions
- Facilitation techniques for technical and non-technical audiences
- Running remote workshops with distributed teams
- Agenda templates for 60-minute, 90-minute, and half-day sessions
- Preparing pre-work: architecture docs, DFDs, user stories
- Role assignment: facilitator, scribe, technical lead, product owner
- Question-driven threat discovery: using cheat sheets and prompt lists
- Using the Elevation of Privilege (EoP) card game by Microsoft
- Post-workshop actions: tracking findings, assigning ownership
- Measuring workshop effectiveness: time saved, vulnerabilities prevented
- Scaling across teams: establishing cadence and ownership
- Integrating workshops into sprint planning and retrospectives
- Creating internal champions and train-the-trainer programmes
- Securing executive buy-in with clear metrics and deliverables
- Overcoming common cultural resistance points
- Remote collaboration tools: Miro, FigJam, Lucidchart integration
Module 8: Cloud & Modern Architecture Threat Modelling - Shared responsibility model in AWS, Azure, GCP
- Modelling IAM policies and permission boundaries
- Identifying over-privileged roles and lateral movement paths
- Serverless threat surfaces: Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run
- Event-driven architecture threats: pub/sub, message queues
- Microservices communication: mTLS, service mesh, API gateways
- Data encryption in transit and at rest across regions
- Multi-account and multi-tenant architecture risks
- Container security: image scanning, runtime protection, orchestration risks
- Kubernetes threat modelling: API server, etcd, kubelet exposures
- Serverless function injection and environment variable leaks
- CDN and edge computing attack vectors
- Secrets management: detecting hardcoded credentials in models
- Real-time data pipelines: Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub security
- Zero-trust architecture integration with threat models
- Monitoring gaps: ensuring detection coverage for modelled threats
Module 9: Compliance, Audit & Governance Integration - Using threat models as evidence for compliance audits
- Mapping threats to control objectives in ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST 800-53
- Demonstrating due diligence to regulators and executives
- Integrating threat modelling into GRC platforms
- Creating auditable threat model artefacts with timestamps and approvals
- Documenting risk acceptance decisions with justification
- Versioning and retention policies for threat model records
- Third-party risk assessment using shared threat models
- Consolidating models for enterprise risk dashboards
- Linking threat models to patch management and vulnerability response
- Supporting business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Insurance requirements: proving proactive risk management
- Board reporting: summarising key risks and mitigation status
- Creating executive summaries from detailed technical models
- Using threat models in vendor security questionnaires
- Legal defensibility: showing reasonable security efforts
Module 10: AI-Powered & Adaptive Threat Modelling - Next-generation modelling: using AI for threat suggestion
- Machine learning models for likelihood prediction
- Natural language processing for extracting threats from design docs
- Graph-based analysis for identifying attack paths
- Automated attack simulation using model data
- Predictive modelling: forecasting high-risk components
- Feedback loops: improving models based on incident data
- Dynamic model updating in response to configuration changes
- Integrating SIEM alerts into model refinement
- Using LLMs responsibly for threat brainstorming
- Validating AI-generated threats with human expertise
- Avoiding hallucination and overfitting in AI-aided models
- Custom prompts for robust threat generation
- Alert fatigue reduction through precise model scope
- Future trends: autonomous security modelling agents
- Ethical considerations in automated threat discovery
Module 11: Real-World Project Application - Step-by-step threat model for a secure e-commerce platform
- Modelling user registration, payment processing, inventory APIs
- Identifying PII handling risks and GDPR compliance gaps
- Threat model for a cloud-native healthcare app with HIPAA requirements
- Handling PHI, audit trails, and access logging
- Banking backend: securing transaction processing and fund transfers
- Anti-fraud mechanisms and dual control requirements
- IoT smart home system: device authentication, update mechanisms
- Mobile app with biometric login and offline access
- Supply chain portal with third-party integrations
- Single sign-on via OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Microservices architecture with gRPC communication
- Serverless notification system with SNS/SQS
- Hybrid on-prem and cloud HR system
- Legacy system integration risks and data synchronisation threats
- Drafting executive summary and risk register for each case
Module 12: Certification, Career Advancement & Next Steps - Final assessment: building a complete threat model from scratch
- Submission process for Certificate of Completion
- Earning your Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service
- Verifiable credential: shareable digital badge for LinkedIn and portfolios
- How to list this certification on your CV and in job applications
- Leveraging the certification in salary negotiations and promotions
- Building a personal threat model library as a professional portfolio
- Contributing to open-source threat model repositories
- Joining global threat modelling communities and forums
- Presenting your work internally to gain visibility
- Continuous learning path: advanced certifications and specialisations
- Staying current: update notifications and expert curation
- Accessing updated threat libraries and frameworks for life
- Progress tracking: completed modules, skills mastered, projects finished
- Gamification elements: milestones, achievement badges, skill levels
- Your next 90 days: implementing threat modelling in your team
- Creating a 30-60-90 day rollout plan for organisational adoption
- Measuring success: reduced vulnerabilities, faster incident response, audit outcomes
- Designing effective threat modelling sessions
- Facilitation techniques for technical and non-technical audiences
- Running remote workshops with distributed teams
- Agenda templates for 60-minute, 90-minute, and half-day sessions
- Preparing pre-work: architecture docs, DFDs, user stories
- Role assignment: facilitator, scribe, technical lead, product owner
- Question-driven threat discovery: using cheat sheets and prompt lists
- Using the Elevation of Privilege (EoP) card game by Microsoft
- Post-workshop actions: tracking findings, assigning ownership
- Measuring workshop effectiveness: time saved, vulnerabilities prevented
- Scaling across teams: establishing cadence and ownership
- Integrating workshops into sprint planning and retrospectives
- Creating internal champions and train-the-trainer programmes
- Securing executive buy-in with clear metrics and deliverables
- Overcoming common cultural resistance points
- Remote collaboration tools: Miro, FigJam, Lucidchart integration
Module 8: Cloud & Modern Architecture Threat Modelling - Shared responsibility model in AWS, Azure, GCP
- Modelling IAM policies and permission boundaries
- Identifying over-privileged roles and lateral movement paths
- Serverless threat surfaces: Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run
- Event-driven architecture threats: pub/sub, message queues
- Microservices communication: mTLS, service mesh, API gateways
- Data encryption in transit and at rest across regions
- Multi-account and multi-tenant architecture risks
- Container security: image scanning, runtime protection, orchestration risks
- Kubernetes threat modelling: API server, etcd, kubelet exposures
- Serverless function injection and environment variable leaks
- CDN and edge computing attack vectors
- Secrets management: detecting hardcoded credentials in models
- Real-time data pipelines: Kafka, Kinesis, Pub/Sub security
- Zero-trust architecture integration with threat models
- Monitoring gaps: ensuring detection coverage for modelled threats
Module 9: Compliance, Audit & Governance Integration - Using threat models as evidence for compliance audits
- Mapping threats to control objectives in ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST 800-53
- Demonstrating due diligence to regulators and executives
- Integrating threat modelling into GRC platforms
- Creating auditable threat model artefacts with timestamps and approvals
- Documenting risk acceptance decisions with justification
- Versioning and retention policies for threat model records
- Third-party risk assessment using shared threat models
- Consolidating models for enterprise risk dashboards
- Linking threat models to patch management and vulnerability response
- Supporting business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Insurance requirements: proving proactive risk management
- Board reporting: summarising key risks and mitigation status
- Creating executive summaries from detailed technical models
- Using threat models in vendor security questionnaires
- Legal defensibility: showing reasonable security efforts
Module 10: AI-Powered & Adaptive Threat Modelling - Next-generation modelling: using AI for threat suggestion
- Machine learning models for likelihood prediction
- Natural language processing for extracting threats from design docs
- Graph-based analysis for identifying attack paths
- Automated attack simulation using model data
- Predictive modelling: forecasting high-risk components
- Feedback loops: improving models based on incident data
- Dynamic model updating in response to configuration changes
- Integrating SIEM alerts into model refinement
- Using LLMs responsibly for threat brainstorming
- Validating AI-generated threats with human expertise
- Avoiding hallucination and overfitting in AI-aided models
- Custom prompts for robust threat generation
- Alert fatigue reduction through precise model scope
- Future trends: autonomous security modelling agents
- Ethical considerations in automated threat discovery
Module 11: Real-World Project Application - Step-by-step threat model for a secure e-commerce platform
- Modelling user registration, payment processing, inventory APIs
- Identifying PII handling risks and GDPR compliance gaps
- Threat model for a cloud-native healthcare app with HIPAA requirements
- Handling PHI, audit trails, and access logging
- Banking backend: securing transaction processing and fund transfers
- Anti-fraud mechanisms and dual control requirements
- IoT smart home system: device authentication, update mechanisms
- Mobile app with biometric login and offline access
- Supply chain portal with third-party integrations
- Single sign-on via OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Microservices architecture with gRPC communication
- Serverless notification system with SNS/SQS
- Hybrid on-prem and cloud HR system
- Legacy system integration risks and data synchronisation threats
- Drafting executive summary and risk register for each case
Module 12: Certification, Career Advancement & Next Steps - Final assessment: building a complete threat model from scratch
- Submission process for Certificate of Completion
- Earning your Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service
- Verifiable credential: shareable digital badge for LinkedIn and portfolios
- How to list this certification on your CV and in job applications
- Leveraging the certification in salary negotiations and promotions
- Building a personal threat model library as a professional portfolio
- Contributing to open-source threat model repositories
- Joining global threat modelling communities and forums
- Presenting your work internally to gain visibility
- Continuous learning path: advanced certifications and specialisations
- Staying current: update notifications and expert curation
- Accessing updated threat libraries and frameworks for life
- Progress tracking: completed modules, skills mastered, projects finished
- Gamification elements: milestones, achievement badges, skill levels
- Your next 90 days: implementing threat modelling in your team
- Creating a 30-60-90 day rollout plan for organisational adoption
- Measuring success: reduced vulnerabilities, faster incident response, audit outcomes
- Using threat models as evidence for compliance audits
- Mapping threats to control objectives in ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST 800-53
- Demonstrating due diligence to regulators and executives
- Integrating threat modelling into GRC platforms
- Creating auditable threat model artefacts with timestamps and approvals
- Documenting risk acceptance decisions with justification
- Versioning and retention policies for threat model records
- Third-party risk assessment using shared threat models
- Consolidating models for enterprise risk dashboards
- Linking threat models to patch management and vulnerability response
- Supporting business continuity and disaster recovery planning
- Insurance requirements: proving proactive risk management
- Board reporting: summarising key risks and mitigation status
- Creating executive summaries from detailed technical models
- Using threat models in vendor security questionnaires
- Legal defensibility: showing reasonable security efforts
Module 10: AI-Powered & Adaptive Threat Modelling - Next-generation modelling: using AI for threat suggestion
- Machine learning models for likelihood prediction
- Natural language processing for extracting threats from design docs
- Graph-based analysis for identifying attack paths
- Automated attack simulation using model data
- Predictive modelling: forecasting high-risk components
- Feedback loops: improving models based on incident data
- Dynamic model updating in response to configuration changes
- Integrating SIEM alerts into model refinement
- Using LLMs responsibly for threat brainstorming
- Validating AI-generated threats with human expertise
- Avoiding hallucination and overfitting in AI-aided models
- Custom prompts for robust threat generation
- Alert fatigue reduction through precise model scope
- Future trends: autonomous security modelling agents
- Ethical considerations in automated threat discovery
Module 11: Real-World Project Application - Step-by-step threat model for a secure e-commerce platform
- Modelling user registration, payment processing, inventory APIs
- Identifying PII handling risks and GDPR compliance gaps
- Threat model for a cloud-native healthcare app with HIPAA requirements
- Handling PHI, audit trails, and access logging
- Banking backend: securing transaction processing and fund transfers
- Anti-fraud mechanisms and dual control requirements
- IoT smart home system: device authentication, update mechanisms
- Mobile app with biometric login and offline access
- Supply chain portal with third-party integrations
- Single sign-on via OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Microservices architecture with gRPC communication
- Serverless notification system with SNS/SQS
- Hybrid on-prem and cloud HR system
- Legacy system integration risks and data synchronisation threats
- Drafting executive summary and risk register for each case
Module 12: Certification, Career Advancement & Next Steps - Final assessment: building a complete threat model from scratch
- Submission process for Certificate of Completion
- Earning your Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service
- Verifiable credential: shareable digital badge for LinkedIn and portfolios
- How to list this certification on your CV and in job applications
- Leveraging the certification in salary negotiations and promotions
- Building a personal threat model library as a professional portfolio
- Contributing to open-source threat model repositories
- Joining global threat modelling communities and forums
- Presenting your work internally to gain visibility
- Continuous learning path: advanced certifications and specialisations
- Staying current: update notifications and expert curation
- Accessing updated threat libraries and frameworks for life
- Progress tracking: completed modules, skills mastered, projects finished
- Gamification elements: milestones, achievement badges, skill levels
- Your next 90 days: implementing threat modelling in your team
- Creating a 30-60-90 day rollout plan for organisational adoption
- Measuring success: reduced vulnerabilities, faster incident response, audit outcomes
- Step-by-step threat model for a secure e-commerce platform
- Modelling user registration, payment processing, inventory APIs
- Identifying PII handling risks and GDPR compliance gaps
- Threat model for a cloud-native healthcare app with HIPAA requirements
- Handling PHI, audit trails, and access logging
- Banking backend: securing transaction processing and fund transfers
- Anti-fraud mechanisms and dual control requirements
- IoT smart home system: device authentication, update mechanisms
- Mobile app with biometric login and offline access
- Supply chain portal with third-party integrations
- Single sign-on via OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect
- Microservices architecture with gRPC communication
- Serverless notification system with SNS/SQS
- Hybrid on-prem and cloud HR system
- Legacy system integration risks and data synchronisation threats
- Drafting executive summary and risk register for each case