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Introduction:
Threat modeling, the systematic process of identifying and mitigating potential security flaws during design, has long been criticized as a dry, theoretical exercise. A revolutionary approach, turning this critical security practice into an engaging card game called “Elevation of Privilege” (EoP), is transforming how developers, architects, and students internalize offensive security mindsets. By forcing players to attack their own systems using structured frameworks like STRIDE, this gamification method bridges the gap between abstract security principles and practical, adversarial thinking.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the core mechanics and psychological benefits of the “Elevation of Privilege” threat modeling card game.
- Learn how to deploy and customize the game for both in-person and remote educational or team sessions.
- Integrate technical threat scenarios, including API security and cloud hardening, into game-based learning exercises.
You Should Know:
1. The STRIDE Framework: Your Attack Deck’s Rulebook
The game is built on the STRIDE model, a mnemonic for six core threat categories: Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, and Elevation of Privilege. Each card in the deck corresponds to one of these categories, providing a guided yet creative prompt for attackers.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Spoofing (Identity Attacks): A card might read: “Describe how an attacker could spoof a JWT token in your authentication microservice.” Players must craft a plausible attack narrative.
2. Tampering (Data Integrity): A card prompts: “How could an attacker modify data in transit between your web app and database?” This leads to discussions on TLS enforcement and integrity checks.
3. Repudiation (Logging & Auditing): “How might an attacker exploit insufficient logging to cover their tracks?” This highlights the need for immutable audit logs.
4. Information Disclosure (Data Exposure): “Find a way to leak sensitive data from a misconfigured S3 bucket.” Directly ties to cloud security hardening.
5. Denial of Service (Availability): “How could a simple API endpoint be abused to exhaust server resources?” Encourages thinking about rate limiting and resource quotas.
6. Elevation of Privilege (Authorization): “Detail a path for a standard user to gain admin privileges via a logic flaw.” Targets authorization schema design.
- Setting Up the Game: From GitHub to Virtual Table
The open-source nature of EoP allows for easy deployment. The primary repository is available at: `https://github.com/izar/pytm?tab=readme-ov-file` (Note: The LinkedIn shortened link `lnkd.in/eQEkF-xk` typically redirects to this or similar repos).
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Acquire the Deck: Download the official card deck (PDF) from the repo or use online collaborative whiteboard tools (Miro, Mural) to create virtual card tables.
2. Remote Session Setup: For distributed teams, share your screen with a digital deck. Use breakout rooms for smaller attack groups. Tools like Discord or Gather.town can simulate a “game night” feel.
3. Define the Target: Start with a simple system diagram. For example, a basic three-tier web architecture: User <-> Web Server <-> Database.
4. Gameplay: Shuffle the deck. A player draws a card, reads it aloud, and proposes an attack against the defined system based on the STRIDE category. The group debates its feasibility, impact, and potential mitigations. Points are awarded for valid, creative attacks.
- Customizing Your Architecture: From Threat Dragon to Live Target
A powerful advanced feature is the ability to model a custom system. The post mentions uploading an image or a Threat Dragon model. Threat Dragon is an open-source, online threat modeling tool that can generate data flow diagrams (DFDs).
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Model Your System: Go to the Threat Dragon website (https://threatdragon.org/`) and create a new model. Diagram your application's components, data stores, and trust boundaries.sudo nmap -sS –top-ports 20 -oA game_target_scan
2. Export and Import: Export your diagram. In a remote EoP session, upload this image as the shared "game board."
3. Live System Analysis (Advanced): For a red-team exercise, use a simplified, approved diagram of a real staging environment. This turns theoretical discussion into tangible risk discovery.
Linux Command Example (Network Mapping): Before the game, you might run a limited scan to understand the live target's surface:
Important: Always have explicit, written authorization before scanning or testing any system.
4. Translating Game Moves to Technical Mitigations
The game’s real value is in translating attack narratives into defensive code and configuration.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
– Attack Narrative (From a Card): “An attacker spoofs a session cookie to impersonate a user.”
– Technical Mitigation Discussion:
Implement Strong Session Tokens: Use frameworks that generate cryptographically random session IDs.
HTTP Security Headers: Deploy headers like `Strict-Transport-Security` and `SameSite` cookies.
Linux/Web Server Command (Example for Nginx): Add to your config:
add_header Set-Cookie "sessionid=<secure_token>; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=Strict";
– Cloud Hardening Example: For an “Information Disclosure” card targeting cloud storage, document the mitigation using AWS CLI:
Command to block public access on an S3 bucket, a common fix from game discussions aws s3api put-public-access-block \ --bucket my-game-bucket \ --public-access-block-configuration "BlockPublicAcls=true,IgnorePublicAcls=true,BlockPublicPolicy=true,RestrictPublicBuckets=true"
5. Building a Sustainable Threat Modeling Culture
The game is a gateway, not the end goal. The objective is to institutionalize the attacker mindset.
Step-by-step guide explaining what this does and how to use it:
1. Run Regular Sessions: Schedule game sessions during sprint planning or design reviews.
2. Prioritize Findings: Use a simple risk matrix (Impact x Likelihood) to score attacks discovered during the game. Integrate high-priority items into the product backlog.
3. Measure Maturity: Track metrics like “Number of threats identified in design phase” or “Reduction in critical bugs post-release.”
4. Automate Where Possible: Use the `pytm` (Python Threat Model) framework from the repository to codify findings. A simple script can generate threats from a model:
Example snippet from pytm for a SQL database element
from pytm import TM, Server, Dataflow, Datastore
tm = TM("My Game Model")
db = Datastore("SQL Database")
db.controls.encryptionAtRest = True Mitigation identified in a game session
What Undercode Say:
- Key Takeaway 1: Gamification flips the cognitive script from passive compliance to active, creative problem-solving. The engagement and retention of security concepts achieved through play vastly outperform traditional lecture-based training.
- Key Takeaway 2: The “Elevation of Privilege” game provides a safe, structured sandbox for practicing offensive security thinking. It demystifies threat modeling, making it accessible and actionable for non-security experts like developers and architects, which is crucial for building secure systems from the ground up.
The analysis reveals that the core innovation isn’t the cards themselves, but the psychological safety and role-playing they enable. By giving a developer “permission” to think maliciously within a game’s rules, it bypasses the defensiveness often encountered in security reviews. This method directly attacks the “us vs. them” divide between development and security teams. Furthermore, the ability to use custom architectures and digital formats future-proofs the approach, making it adaptable to cloud-native, IoT, and AI system designs, where traditional threat models can struggle.
Prediction:
The future of security training and secure design practices will be deeply intertwined with gamified and simulation-based learning. Tools like “Elevation of Privilege” are early prototypes of immersive security VR/AR environments where teams will collaboratively attack and defend hyper-realistic digital twins of their infrastructure. As AI-assisted code generation becomes mainstream, we will see AI “game masters” that dynamically generate nuanced, context-aware threat cards tailored to specific code commits or architecture diagrams. This will shift security left so profoundly that the adversarial mindset fostered by such games will become a non-negotiable core competency for every software professional, fundamentally reducing the number of design-flaw vulnerabilities that reach production.
🎯Let’s Practice For Free:
IT/Security Reporter URL:
Reported By: Laurent Biagiotti – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
