02. Threat Models for Web Security

Dated Nov 21, 2018; last modified on Sun, 14 Mar 2021

#1: Network Adversary

Addressed by secure communication protocols (+ network security)

#2: User visits adversary’s page

Variants:

  • Attacker gets the user to click a link, e.g. one that adds an item to their shopping cart.
  • Attacker gets the user’s browser to request a link

#3: Adversary is a third-party

<iframe src="https://third-party.com/widget"></iframe>

Note that an adversary script being embedded directly, e.g. through a <script> tag is not a threat model!

#4: Adversary interacts with the server