The Diagram tool

Use the SD Elements Diagram tool for communicating visual threat model information to your development team as well as to other teams and departments.

The Diagram tool is turned on by default. Any user with an Administrator role or the Manage features permission can turn off Diagram functionality (or turn it on again).

Create a diagram

Diagrams supplement the Survey. Diagramming activities are optional, and survey answers that correspond to an element on a diagram will be pre-populated.

To create a threat model diagram, follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Project role→Project Management→Edit project survey.

Steps:

  1. Complete and save the Survey.

    • The selection of specific answers in the Project Survey automatically places corresponding icons on the diagram canvas when you generate the diagram.

    • The selection of specific components in the Survey automatically places corresponding icons on a digital canvas.

  2. Click Continue to diagram.

    • The Diagram canvas opens.

  3. Click Generate a diagram.

    • Icons representing the system components selected in Survey Answers appear on the canvas.

Diagram canvas

The Diagram canvas opens after you complete a project Survey and click Continue to diagram. Upon opening, the canvas is blank.

Canvas controls

Icons, representing project components selected in the Survey, become visible when you click Generate a diagram. After generating a diagram on the canvas, you can edit, share, or lock it.

The canvas allows you to save the diagram, go back to the survey, or continue to the project summary page.

Diagram controls

The Diagram tool offers three sets of control found on the canvas.

1. Threat modeling

  • 30 Rearrange icons to better visualize the system being diagrammed.

  • 30 Move the canvas to better visualize the system being diagrammed.

  • 30 Add component icons to fill gaps in the system visualization.

  • 30 Group icons to emphasize components that are associated within trust zones.

  • 30 Connect icons to illustrate data flow among system components.

  • 30 Undo or redo your previous action.

2. Save and delete

  • 50 Export the diagram as a JSON or PNG file, if desired, to create an archive of threat modeling efforts. Exported diagrams are shareable.

  • 30 Delete the diagram.

3. Resizing and shortcuts

  • 30 Resize the canvas to the full width of your screen or collapse it to its original size.

  • 60 Recenter the view of the canvas, or zoom in or out to better see all components being edited.

  • 30 View keyboard shortcuts for the diagram controls.

Edit a diagram

You can edit a threat model diagram after creating it. The canvas offers various controls to manipulate both the diagram and the canvas itself.

To edit a diagram on the Diagram canvas, follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Project role→Project Management→Edit project survey.

Steps:

  1. From your SD Elements project, navigate to the Diagram tab.

  2. Make your desired changes.

  3. Click Save.

The diagram is immediately updated with your changes.

Add a component

After generating a diagram with system components selected in the Survey, you can add more components to the canvas based on the needs of your threat modeling process. See the full list of built-in components here.

To add a component on the Diagram canvas, follow the steps below.

Steps

  1. Click the components icon 20.

  2. Select a component from the list or search for one.

  3. Click on the canvas to drop the component onto it.

Right-click the component to see more options: Connect, Group, Label, and Delete.

If you need a component that is not in the provided list, you can create your own custom component.

Add a trust zone

Trust zones represent a specified area of a threat model diagram within which all components and connectors have the same level of trust. Logically, there is a common security level within a threat modeling trust zone. One software component inside a trust zone considers other elements within the same zone to have its own level of integrity and confidentiality.

To add a trust zone on the Diagram canvas, follow the steps below.

Steps

  1. Click the zone icon 20

  2. Click on the canvas to drop the zone onto it.

  3. Drag and drop components into the zone.

  4. Resize the zone by dragging components to their desired locations within the borders of the zone.

Right-click the zone to see more options: Connect, Label, Border, Color, and Delete.

Add a connector

Connectors illustrate how data moves through a system.

To add a connector on the Diagram canvas, follow the steps below.

Steps

  1. Click the connector icon 20.

  2. With the connector control selected, click on a component and drag your cursor to another component until the dashed line shows a solid line from one component to the other.

  3. Release the button to create a connection between the two components.

    500
    500

Right-click the connector to see more options: Style, Label, Flip, and Delete.

Share a diagram

To share a diagram with others, follow the steps below.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Project role→Project Management→Edit project survey.

Steps:

  1. Export the diagram as a JSON or PNG file.

  2. Share the diagram through secure communication channel, sucj as a secure file server.

Lock and unlock a diagram

Locking and unlocking a diagram involves locking or unlocking the associated Project Survey. By extension, locking or unlocking a Survey locks or unlocks its generated diagram.

Diagrams and new project releases

Your diagram is carried over with subsequent releases of your project in SD Elements. As your codebase evolves, so will your Project Survey, and long with it, your your threat modeling diagram. See Create a release project for more information.

Disable diagrams

By default, the diagrams feature is enabled. You can disable the diagram feature in SD Elements by completing the following steps.

Prerequisites:

  • The user has the permission Organization → Manage features.

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the System (gear icon) tab.

  2. Select Features.

  3. Uncheck the Diagram checkbox.

  4. Click Save.

Diagrams are now disabled and are no longer a part of the Project Survey workflow.

Built-in components

The following is a comprehensive list of built-in components available for threat model diagrams as of SD Elements v2022.2.

Component

Survey section - Survey Subsection - Survey Answer

Survey Answer ID

Generic database

Application General - Components in Use - Uses a database

A1078

NoSQL database

Platform and Language - Database - NoSQL Database

A732

Amazon DynamoDB

Deployment - AWS Services - DynamoDB

A1271

MongoDB database

Platform and Language - Database Management System (DBMS) - MongoDB

A1126

SQL database

Platform and Language - Database - Standalone database that supports SQL

A11

Microsoft SQL Server

Platform and Language - Database Management System (DBMS) - Microsoft SQL Server

A1222

Azure SQL database

Deployment - Azure Services - SQL Database

A1201

MySQL database

Platform and Language - Database Management System (DBMS) - MySQL database

A1195

Oracle database

Platform and Language - Database Management System (DBMS) - Oracle

A1221

SQLite database

Platform and Language - Database Management System (DBMS) - SQLite local data storage

A765

Amazon Aurora

Deployment - AWS Services - Aurora

A1251

PostgreSQL

Platform and Language - Database Management System (DBMS) - PostgreSQL

A1252

Google Cloud Storage

Deployment - Google Cloud Services - Cloud Storage

A1240

Amazon S3

Deployment - AWS Services - S3

A1169

Google Cloud DNS

Deployment - Google Cloud Services - Cloud DNS

A1242

Amazon Route53

Deployment - AWS Services - Route53

A1179

Azure Active Directory

Deployment - Azure Services - Active Directory

A1197

Amazon IAM

Deployment - AWS Services - IAM

A1170

Google Cloud IAM

Deployment - Google Cloud Services - Cloud IAM

A1236

LDAP

Features and Functions - Authentication Method - Uses LDAP repository

A55

SSO Provider

Features and Functions - Authentication Method - Uses SSO or federated authentication

A54

PayPal

Application General - Application’s Context and Characteristics - Paypal

A1163

Mobile app

Application General - Components in Development - Mobile App

A713

Android app

Platform and Language - Platform - Android

A715

iOS app

Platform and Language - Platform - iOS

A714

Amazon Lambda

Deployment - AWS Services - Lambda

A1226

Azure Functions

Deployment - Azure Services - Azure Functions

A1210

Web service

Application General - Components in development - Generic server

A4 or A6

Microsoft IIS

Platform and Language - Web Server Used - Microsoft IIS

A75

NGINX

Platform and Language - Web Server Used - NGINX

A1149

Apache

Platform and Language - Web Server Used - Apache

A74

IBM WebSphere

Platform and Language - Java EE Container Used - WebSphere

A106

Oracle WebLogic

Platform and Language - Java EE Container Used - WebLogic

A107

Apache Tomcat

Platform and Language - Java EE Container Used - Tomcat

A108

SMTP server

Features and Functions - Miscellaneous - Sends electronic messages and/or emails

A1288

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