STRIDE

STRIDE is a mnemonic used in cybersecurity to remember six common threats to computer systems:

• Spoofing: This involves impersonating another user or system to gain unauthorized access or manipulate data. Attackers might spoof IP addresses, email addresses, or even websites to trick users into revealing sensitive information or clicking malicious links.

• Tampering: This threat involves altering data, code, or system configurations without authorization. Attackers might tamper with data in transit or at rest, modify software code to introduce vulnerabilities, or change system settings to disable security controls.

• Repudiation: This refers to a situation where a user or system denies performing an action, even if evidence suggests otherwise. Attackers might exploit weaknesses in authentication mechanisms to gain access to a system and then repudiate their actions to avoid detection.

• Information Disclosure: This threat involves unauthorized access to confidential or sensitive information. Attackers might exploit vulnerabilities in web applications, databases, or network protocols to steal data such as financial records, personal information, or intellectual property.

• Denial of Service (DoS): This attack aims to make a system or network unavailable to legitimate users by overwhelming it with traffic or requests. Attackers might flood a server with junk data, exploit vulnerabilities to crash systems, or launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks using botnets to cripple entire networks.

• Elevation of Privilege: This threat involves attackers gaining higher privileges on a system than they are authorized to have. This allows them to perform actions that would be restricted for their normal user account, such as installing malware, modifying critical system files, or stealing sensitive data.

Importance of STRIDE:

• Threat Modeling: STRIDE is a valuable tool for threat modeling, which is the process of identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities in a system. By considering each of the STRIDE categories, security professionals can proactively assess risks and implement appropriate security controls to mitigate them.

• Security Awareness: Understanding STRIDE helps raise awareness of common cyber threats among users and system administrators. By recognizing these threats, they can be more vigilant in protecting sensitive information and identifying suspicious activities.

• Security Design: STRIDE can be used during the design phase of software or network systems to identify potential weaknesses and incorporate security measures from the beginning. This helps build systems that are more resistant to attacks from the get-go.