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Threat Categories

Threat categories provide a classification system for organizing and grouping threats in your threat model.

Basic Settings

Each threat category includes:

  1. Name: A descriptive identifier for the category (e.g., "Tampering", "Information Disclosure")
  2. Description: Detailed explanation of the threat category and what types of threats it encompasses
  3. Protection Goals: Which security goals are affected (e.g. confidentiality, integrity, availability)
  4. Impact Categories: Assessment of the impact

Impact Categories

Beyond the traditional CIA triad, threat categories can be associated with additional impact dimensions:

  • Authorization: Improper access control or privilege escalation
  • Authenticity: Identity verification and non-spoofing
  • Non-repudiation: Ability to prove actions occurred
  • Auditability: Tracking and logging capabilities
  • Trustworthiness: System reliability and dependability
  • Safety: Physical harm or danger to people
  • Privacy: Personal data protection and regulatory compliance
  • Compliance: Adherence to legal and regulatory requirements
  • Financial: Monetary losses or costs
  • Reputation: Brand damage or loss of customer trust
  • Customer Satisfaction: User experience and service quality
  • Production Process: Operational disruptions or manufacturing impacts

These impact categories help provide a comprehensive view of potential consequences and enable more nuanced risk assessment beyond technical security considerations.

Usage in Threat Modeling

Threat categories can be associated with attack vectors and threat rules. When attack scenarios are generated, this classification will be adopted. Furthermore, they are used in System Threats to find threat scenarios.