Importance of Threat Modeling in CyberOps

A collaboration of previous siloed components = a better utilisation of resources, expedited results & reduced overall risk.

What Is Threat Modeling?

Threat modeling has become the leading method for organisations to perform a structural approach to understanding threats, security vulnerability, and organisational risks. This cross-sectional strategy combines several elements within the organisation to better and holistically improve the security posture. Potential threats from threat actors compel organisations to enable a threat modeling strategy and culture within the organisation.

Threat modeling teams include cybersecurity operations, DevOps, AppDev, risk management, and compliance and governance members often collaborate when developing a threat modeling strategy.

What is threat modeling critical to an organisation?

While a business or organisation must compete in their marketplaces, digital transformation strategies create several new attack surfaces and compliance challenges. A retail organisation enabled a critical transformation strategy by deploying Internet of Things (IoT) devices for the IP-enabled cameras, and mobile checkout, along with leveraging an integrated supply chain for restocking.

These innovative capabilities should provide customers with a superior optimisation experience. Technology innovation also leads to new comprehensive attack surfaces targeted by cybercriminals.

While the transformation strategy is needed for theorganisation to be competitive for years to come, the amount of cybersecurityrisk and vulnerability exposure could financially impact the organisation moresignificantly than expected to gain in forecasted revenues. Threat modellingand continuous security modelling help recognise the threats, vulnerabilities,and changes in the risk landscape before, during, and after the transformationstrategy has been enabled.

How do we validate if threat modelling is working for the organisation?

Enabling threat modelling is an organisational-widestrategy promoting collaboration across many separate departments and teams.The cost to support the initial modelling and ongoing monitoring is anorganisation-wide financial expense. How will an organisation validate theinvestment in the threat model is delivering expected results? Selecting thecorrect methodology is critical to the organisations success.

The common threat modeling methodologies include:

STRIDE- Easy to use yet very time consuming
PASTA - Contributes more to risk management
LINDDUN - Built-in prioritisation or threat mitigation
CVSS- Scoring calculations
Attack Trees - Identify essential migration strategies
Persona non Grata - Consist Of results when used often in modelling
Security Cards - Focuses on non-standard attacks and breaches
HtMM - Accounts for all possible threats, including false positives.

The methodologies align with the essential steps organisations need to execute for threat modelling. These steps include thefollowing:

Identifying assets
Diagram the digital landscape
Analyse current threat landscapes
Perform risk assessment and asset scoring and prioritisation of vulnerabilities.

Separation of threat, risk, and exposure

A core component of the threat modelling is breaking out between the three core factors:

Threats- The expected or unexpected future cybersecurity event as a result of a vulnerability exploit.
Risk - A calculated value of the expected impact of cybersecurity threats against the organisation.
Vulnerability - Potential vulnerabilities remain a weakness within the internal and external IT digital resources supporting the organisation's business operations.

Threat modelling provides the context for managingthese elements. Each of them has a level of influence on the other.

Strategic risk is measured by determining which vulnerabilities pose the most significant threat to the organisation. Choosing the proper threat analysis modelling methodology is essential for the organisation. Aligning to the correct method requires the organisation to face the grim reality that each strategy requires qualified personnel.

Accessing global talent to support the threat modelling strategy is still a challenge.

Finding qualified cybersecurity professionals continue to be challenging. Access to global talent with experience is possible if organisations are open to hiring people from various countries. Specifically for cybersecurity, many organisations started contracting through managed security service providers (MSSP) to leverage managed security operations offerings and incident management.

Engaging MSSPs for threat modelling services

As more organisations migrate towards a threat modelling strategy, many have contracted a threat modelling services engagement through service providers. Many organisations have shifted their resources to focus onthe critical and strategic components of threat modelling, including risk management, vulnerability prioritisation, and threat hunting. Effective threat modelling strategies should include a continuous monitoring component. MSSPs can assist with managed security operations, vulnerability management, and access to cyberthreat intelligence.

Like vulnerability scanning of the network or applications, threat modelling incorporates these standalone sprints into acomprehensive continuous strategy. Threat modelling is, in reality, acollaboration of previous silos components, including penetration testing, risk management, incident response, SecOps monitoring, and compliance. By aligning these elements into a scrum, organisations better utilise their resources while expediting accelerated results while reducing overall risk.

As organisations develop their threat modelling strategy, leveraging MSSPs like LinearStack can assist with several key components to help, including deploying tools for threat modelling and security monitoring services.

Partnering with LinearStack (MSSP) for threat modelling resources

LinearStack is a New Zealand-owned and operated specialised cyber security services company with a global footprint. The core focus of our business is to accelerate our customer’s cyber security operations with the help of our cyber defence services.

We augment our client’s teams by acting as a true an extension of their team empowering our clients to prioritise their cyber security strategy and customers while we protect their business from cyber threats 24x7.

Managed Security Service to support threat modelling strategies

Complete security offering, including architecture implementation and 24/7 operations

Our Managed Security Services are designed for organisations needing to boost their cybersecurity capability significantly. You want to save staffing costs while gaining instant and ongoing access tobest-in-class expertise.

Trained specialists

To run a robust security program, you need accessto unique skill sets. Each team member is a trained expert in their securityniche so that the defence of your data and infrastructure is efficientlymanaged by the person best suited to the task.

We look after day-to-day monitoring and SOCoperations, so your team can focus on strategic business projects and only thesecurity alerts they need to act. We prioritize alerts for you and provide backgroundand contextual information.

Compliance readiness

Meet the world of legislation, security standards,and best practices confidently. We set up your technology and systems, so youare compliant.

Culture

We’re 100% privately held, grown with a familymindset. When working with clients, we’re well integrated within their teamsand act as an extension of their operations. Augmenting existing teams is atransition we manage smoothly, empowering our customers to prioritise cybersecurity strategy while we protect their business from cyber threats 24x7.

We believe maintaining thriving IT systems andassuring data protection are fundamental needs that all businesses deserve.