Automated Threat Modeling
Real-time insights into vulnerabilities and security gaps
What Is Automated Threat Modeling?
Automated threat modeling enhances traditional threat modeling by introducing AI and other advanced technologies to improve how models are built, and risks are assessed. This helps provide real-time insights into vulnerabilities and security gaps and enhances efficiency, accuracy, and consistency in threat detection and response.
By combining AI, threat frameworks, and enhanced user workflows, automated threat modeling empowers users to create visual diagrams of IT systems, their data flows, and related threats and vulnerabilities, making threat models easier to understand and more accessible for non-security stakeholders. This includes software development teams, as the use of automation can integrate with existing development workflows, enabling a shift-left approach throughout the software development lifecycle (SLDC). Automated solutions generally also support compliance and reporting requirements and foster real-time collaboration among team members.
Why Is It Important?
Traditionally, threat modeling has been a slow, cumbersome process, prone to inconsistency and inaccuracies due to its complexity. To remain relevant and useful, threat models must be updated continuously to account for changes in threat landscapes and IT environments. The use of automation transforms threat modeling into a continuous practice, reducing manual efforts while producing more accurate threat models faster. This, in turn, makes threat modeling available earlier in software development cycles and more accessible to non-security stakeholders. Automated solutions also enable real-time cybersecurity alerts and vulnerability management, further decreasing manual workloads for security teams.
What Are Some Key Considerations?
Automated threat modeling offers many technical and business benefits, primarily in reducing the time, effort, and expense of threat modeling exercises. With the automated use of large threat libraries, these solutions can apply more rigor to threat identification and countermeasure recommendations. However, not all automated threat modeling solutions offer the same level of functionality, integration, or capabilities for end users.
How Is It Related to Threat Modeling?
Automated threat modeling represents an evolution of traditional threat modeling, using advanced technologies to streamline, enhance, and accelerate the creation of threat models. When properly applied, automated solutions can shorten the process of creating models from days to minutes. Intelligent automation is invaluable for scaling the practice of threat modeling and making its insights readily available and applicable across an organization.
Closing
Automated threat modeling uplevels traditional threat modeling into a fast, sustainable practice at enterprise scale. While the expertise of human security practitioners remains indispensable, automated threat modeling solutions have effectively expanded the capacity of security teams to perform higher-value activities while maintaining a baseline of continuous threat monitoring and detection.