ISC2 Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP) Practice Question

While performing threat analysis on a new microservices-based payment platform, the security architect has listed all assets, external actors, and use cases. To understand how an attacker might cross trust boundaries and where additional controls are needed, what should the team create next?

An annotated data flow diagram that includes processes, data stores, data flows, and trust boundaries.
A risk acceptance memorandum signed by executive stakeholders.
A compliance requirements matrix mapping regulatory controls to system features.
A vulnerability scan report listing current component CVSS scores.

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Answer Description

In threat analysis, once assets and actors are identified, security practitioners typically decompose the system with an annotated data flow diagram (DFD). A DFD shows processes, data stores, data flows, and-crucially-trust boundaries. Mapping these elements helps analysts visualize where untrusted inputs enter, how data moves, and where threats such as spoofing, tampering, or elevation of privilege can arise. A risk acceptance memo or compliance matrix may be produced later, but they do not reveal the technical paths an attacker could exploit. A vulnerability scan report is focused on known software flaws, not architectural paths or missing controls, and therefore is created after the threat analysis is complete.

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