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Application & OT Security · Intermediate

Attack Tree

A hierarchical diagram with an attacker's goal at the root and the alternative ways to achieve it as child nodes.

Definition

Popularized by Bruce Schneier, attack trees use AND/OR nodes to show which combinations of sub-goals achieve the root goal. Leaves can be annotated with cost, likelihood or required skill to find the cheapest attack paths and the most valuable mitigations.

Example

Root: steal customer data; OR children: SQL injection, stolen backup, malicious insider.

Exam tip

Attack trees are goal-oriented and use AND/OR nodes; they are often used inside PASTA.

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