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Threat Modeling

Identify and Address Security Risks Before They're Written Into the Code

Most application vulnerabilities are not coding mistakes. They are design decisions made before any code was written, trust assumptions that didn't hold, data flows that crossed boundaries that should have remained separate, and authentication patterns that worked for the original use case but failed in the second. By the time the vulnerability shows up in a penetration test, the cost to fix it is orders of magnitude higher than addressing it in the design phase. Threat modeling is the methodology that prevents that gap.


Modern threat modeling has evolved well beyond the STRIDE-and-data-flow-diagram exercise it began as. Mature programs apply multiple methodologies: STRIDE for system threats, LINDDUN for privacy threats, PASTA for risk-driven business contexts, attack trees for adversary modeling, and MITRE ATT&CK alignment for threat-informed defense. They integrate threat modeling into agile sprints using patterns such as User Story Threat Modeling, rather than treating it as a one-time architectural exercise. They apply it to AI and agentic systems, software supply chains, and identity architectures, not just web applications. And they increasingly use AI-augmented analysis to make threat modeling deeper and faster.


Our Threat Modeling service helps organizations build, mature, or operationalize a threat modeling capability that fits their development culture and addresses the systems they're actually building. We deliver targeted threat modeling engagements that require deep expertise, integrate threat modeling into agile and DevSecOps workflows that require continuous practice, and train internal teams to operate the program independently. Vendor-neutral throughout.

Our Tailored Approach Can Include
Methodology Foundations & Framework Selection

  • Methodology selection and tailoring based on the system being modeled, the team modeling it, and the questions threat modeling is being asked to answer.
     

    • STRIDE for system and component-level threat decomposition (Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information disclosure, Denial of service, Elevation of privilege).
       

    • LINDDUN for privacy-focused threat modeling (Linkability, Identifiability, Non-repudiation, Detectability, Disclosure, Unawareness, Non-compliance). Increasingly important under GDPR, state privacy laws, and AI regulation.
       

    • PASTA (Process for Attack Simulation and Threat Analysis) for risk-driven, business-context threat modeling.
       

    • Attack trees and kill-chain analysis for adversary-centric modeling.
       

    • MITRE ATT&CK alignment for threat-informed defense at the design phase.
       

  • Foundational training in threat modeling principles, not vendor-specific tool training.

Targeted Threat Modeling Engagements

  • Architecture-level threat modeling for new systems, significant redesigns, and emerging technology adoption.
     

  • Design-level threat modeling for specific features, components, and integrations where the security design decisions are concentrated.
     

  • Existing-system threat modeling, applied retrospectively to systems already in production, often as preparation for compliance audits, M&A diligence, or remediation programs.
     

  • Cross-boundary threat modeling: integrations between systems, third-party connections, and the trust assumptions that span organizational boundaries.
     

  • Reporting that produces actionable outputs (e.g.,  security requirements for the backlog, test cases for the AppSec testing program, IR playbook content, secure coding guidance), not just a diagram in a wiki.






     

Continuous & User Story Threat Modeling for Agile SDLC

  • User Story Threat Modeling: embedding threat identification into agile sprint workflows so threat modeling happens at the cadence development actually moves at, not as a quarterly architectural exercise.
     

  • Continuous threat modeling patterns: keeping the threat model alive as the system evolves, rather than producing a one-time artifact that becomes obsolete.
     

  • Threat modeling integration into Definition of Ready, Definition of Done, and sprint review processes.
     

  • Lightweight checklist-based and template-based approaches for routine work, with deeper methodology engagement reserved for higher-risk components.
     

  • Security Champions enablement: training developers and product owners to lead threat modeling conversations in their own teams.
     

  • Connection to the broader Secure SDLC & DevSecOps program where continuous threat modeling lives operationally.

     

Specialized & AI-Augmented
Threat Modeling

  • Threat modeling for AI and agentic systems: covering LLM applications, agentic AI with delegated authority, RAG architectures, and traditional ML, applied alongside our Secure AI & Agentic Development service.
     

  • Threat modeling for OT and cyber-physical systems aligned to IEC 62443 and the Purdue Model,  operating alongside our OT & Cyber-Physical Security Architecture service.
     

  • Software supply chain threat modeling aligned to SLSA and CISA Secure by Design, integrated with TBDCyber's broader Secure SDLC & DevSecOps supply chain service.
     

  • Identity and access threat modeling for complex authentication and authorization architectures.
     

  • AI-augmented threat modeling: using LLMs to assist with threat identification from data flow diagrams, generate STRIDE analyses for components, and surface threats that human-only analysis missed with appropriate human oversight and validation.
     

  • Threat modeling tooling evaluation and selection: vendor-neutral, fit-based recommendations.

Benefits

Multiple Methodologies, Right Tool for the Job

STRIDE, LINDDUN, PASTA, attack trees, MITRE ATT&CK alignment. Different systems need different methodologies; mature programs apply the right one. We help you build that judgment, not just teach a single framework.

Specialized for the Systems You're Actually Building

AI and agentic systems, OT and cyber-physical environments, software supply chains, identity architectures. Modern threat modeling extends well beyond web applications, and the methodology must evolve with it.

Integrated Into Modern SDLC, Not an Academic Exercise

User Story Threat Modeling, continuous threat modeling, Security Champions enablement. The threat model stays alive as the system evolves, and developers participate rather than waiting for a security team to produce an artifact.

AI-Augmented Where It Adds Real Value

AI assistance for threat identification, STRIDE analysis generation, and surfacing threats that human-only analysis missed with appropriate human oversight and validation. AI doesn't replace methodology expertise; it makes expert practitioners faster.

Related Services
Threat Modeling is the methodology service that drives priorities across the broader software security program. Other related services include:
 
The Cheapest Time to Fix a Vulnerability Is Before It's Written.

Threat modeling is the only software security practice that prevents vulnerabilities rather than finding them after the fact.

 

Done well, it produces actionable security requirements, drives test priorities, informs IR playbooks, and shapes secure coding guidelines at a fraction of the cost of fixing the same issues post-deployment. Done as a one-time architectural exercise that sits in a wiki, it produces nothing.


TBDCyber helps you do it well. Multiple methodologies, integration into agile workflows, specialized application to AI and modern systems, AI-augmented where it adds value, and connection to the broader Secure SDLC program where the practice operationalizes.
 

Talk to a Threat Modeling Expert →

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