Threat Modeling: STRIDE, MITRE ATT&CK for Containers

Compliance frameworks tell you what controls to implement. Threat modeling tells you what you're actually defending against. Without a systematic way to identify attack paths, you're left guessing which Kubernetes components are most at risk, which misconfigurations matter, and where to invest your limited security budget. That's a recipe for security theater: checkboxes filled, real threats unaddressed.

Two frameworks dominate Kubernetes threat modeling. STRIDE, developed at Microsoft, provides a systematic categorization lens. Six threat categories applied to each trust boundary crossing, ensuring nothing gets missed. MITRE ATT&CK for Containers takes the empirical route: cataloging real-world attacker tactics and techniques observed in the wild. Together, they give you both the systematic coverage and the practical prioritization you need.