Common Failure Patterns

Failed threat modeling initiatives share predictable characteristics. Treating threat modeling as a compliance checkbox rather than a value-adding activity dooms initiatives. Teams going through motions to satisfy auditors produce threat models that gather dust rather than prevent breaches.

Overcomplication kills many threat modeling programs. Attempting comprehensive analysis of every possible threat paralyzes teams. Successful programs start simple and build complexity as teams gain experience. Perfect threat models delivered too late provide less value than good-enough models influencing design decisions.

Isolation from development workflows ensures threat modeling failure. Security teams creating threat models in isolation produce academically interesting but practically useless artifacts. Developer involvement throughout the process ensures findings are implementable and relevant to actual system constraints.

Lack of follow-through wastes threat modeling efforts. Identifying threats without implementing mitigations provides false security. Organizations must track mitigation implementation with the same rigor as feature development. Untreated identified threats often become breach vectors, making organizations liable for known vulnerabilities.