#threatmodel

Nuclear Weapons Storage Facilities

The podcast about the Titan II Nuclear Missile can be found here.

Podcast summary:

The Titan II was a nuclear missile having the firepower of all the explosives of WWII combined, times three. A team was responsible for maintaining the Propellant Transfer System (PTS) on the Titan II. They worked hard in a dangerous environment where the liquid fuel in the bottom tanks could ignite at when in contact with any object.

One day, two overworked staff members used the wrong tool to open the socket up high in the launch duct. Since the facility was old, there were gaps between the missile and the platform, small enough gaps for the loosened socket to fall through. And it did. The fuel tank was punctured, fuel started spraying out and the missile exploded, destroying the complex. Toxic clouds of vapor from the oxidizer that didn’t burn off started to poison the staff.

Notes:

The fuel system is old, liquid fuel stored in tanks includes rocket fuel and oxidisers. Rocket fuel and oxidiser are volatile.

The oxidiser is poisonous and can ignite spontaneously if it comes in contact with leather, paper, cloth, wood. The fuel would ignite if contacted with rust.

Assets

The most important asset that the US Government wanted to protect was the nuclear missile. They wanted to prevent it from going off unexpectedly and ensure the safety of civilians, as well as the staff maintaining the complex.

Threats

Fuel system failure and combust, leading to an explosion

Staffs overwork, reducing the ability to follow procedures correctly and making rational decisions

The warhead exploding can lead to casualties up to millions, potentially starting a new world war

Mitigations

Protect the fuel tanks with strong and thick outer plates. Ensure that they are puncture-proof

Replace the old fuel system with something less volatile

Ensure staffs having enough rest before their shift begins

Install an emergency system to lock down the fuel tanks in case a leak or combustion happens

Case study: Automated cars

This week’s case study is a continuation of building a threat model.

Summary of the case: Assuming you are the CSO (Chief Security Officer) of Giggle and the company is planning to release a driver-less car. The car is controlled by a central computer located at the company’s facility. You are going to have to talk to the CEO and some of the higher-ups of the company to present security risks as well as whether to launch the project.

Analysis

To make the decision, we first need to build our threat model.

Assets

The central computer (knowing information about the car, having control over the car)

Data (information on the car’s location, passengers, network, etc.)

Employees (People who have key knowledge about the project)

The car (physical security of the car, hijacking)

The reputation of the company

Investors

Threats

Malicious hackers - Taking control of the car from afar by hacking the central computers

Burglars/Thief - Passengers can hijack the car by manually controlling it

Accidents and Injuries - Accidents by miscalculations by the computer can damage the company’s reputation, causing trust issues on the matter of driverless cars

Information leaked - Whether by the employees or miscommunication can lead to other competitors having information on the company’s secrets, leading to loss of investments

Mitigations

Physical security - Having physical locks and biometrics to enable manual driving

Having a dedicated team on security to ensure the computer’s network is secured

Encrypt all data from and to the car

Having insurance on the car and the passengers

Having a dedicated emergency team that can communicate with the passengers 24/7

Ensure employees are kept on-site and no one employee will hold a large piece of vital information

Conclusion

Note: Since I was sick at the beginning of the week, so this week I had to switch to Jazz’s tutorial on Thursday.

Case study: Google data centre

We were tasked to come up with a Threat model for a new Google data centre in Kingsford. Our job is to protect the data and the facility.

Analysis

The threat model comprises of 3 things: assets, threats and mitigations.

Assets

Data (Physical data such as papers, digital information on hard drives, data on the network)

Employees (People who have key knowledge about the facility as well as the projects)

Equipment (Computers, machines, chips)

Personal belongings (Cars, phones, etc)

Threats

Malicious hackers - They can infiltrate the centre and take the data

Burglars - Taking virtually anything they can physically carry

The Government Forces - They can legally take anything

Double agents - Employees who can leak information out of the facility

Mitigations

Physical security - Having armed guards, checkpoints, security cameras, locks,, etc

Monitor employees - Detect and prevent unusual behaviours

Encrypt data on hard drives - Ensure that the no one can get the data even if they have the hard drives

Disconnect from the internet - Use a Farraday cage to erase any traces

Backup the data physically offsite - Data is written on papers and transfer offsite according to some schedule

Self-destruction plan - Having a concrete plan on how to destroy the data if some form of compromise has been detected

Conclusion