Threat Modeling with STRIDE: Categories, Use Cases, and Benefits

 STRIDE (Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service (DoS), Elevation of Privilege)

STRIDE is a widely used threat modeling framework developed by Microsoft to help identify and categorize potential security threats in software systems. It’s especially useful during the design phase of development, allowing teams to proactively address vulnerabilities before they become exploitable.

What Does STRIDE Stand For?

STRIDE is a mnemonic representing six categories of security threats:

Purpose of STRIDE

STRIDE helps answer the question: “What can go wrong?” in a system. It enables developers, architects, and security teams to:

• Identify threats early in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
• Map threats to security principles (CIA triad: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability)
• Design countermeasures before deployment
• Improve security awareness across teams

How STRIDE Is Used

STRIDE is often applied alongside Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs) to visualize:

• System architecture
• Data movement
• Trust boundaries
• User interactions

By overlaying STRIDE categories on DFDs, teams can systematically assess where threats may arise and plan mitigations.

Benefits of STRIDE

Proactive security: Identifies risks before code is written

Structured approach: Easy to apply across different systems

Cross-functional collaboration: Involves developers, security experts, and product managers

Scalable: Works with Agile, DevOps, and Waterfall methodologies