Common Answers to “What's Your Threat Model?”
The question “What's your threat model?” can help you quickly express who or what you're worried about. Some typical answers include the following:
- Someone with user-level access to the machine
- Someone with admin-level access to the machine
- Someone with physical access to a machine or site
Network Attackers
Attackers that are in a good position to attack via the network include the following:
- Eve or Mallory
- Using available software
- Creating new software
- Your ISP
- Your cloud provider, or someone who has compromised them
- The coffee shop or hotel network
- The Mukhbarat or the NSA
- A compromised switch or router
- The node at the other end of a connection
- A trusted node that's been compromised
Physical Attackers
This section considers those physically attacking a technical system, not those attacking people. Examples include the following:
- Possession of a machine for unlimited time
- A thief...