SecureDrop server identification out of scope

THREAT93 · Out of scope: Outside what this threat model covers. · Defined in catalog.py:1622

Risk: Medium impact × High likelihood = 8 high
After mitigations: Medium impact × High likelihood = 8 high (unchanged)

During install and nightly updates, app and mon servers call apt.freedom.press torproject.org for package updates. All other traffic occurs over Tor, may be unusual and easy to distinguish for the organization.

Threat actors: Nation State / Law Enforcement Large Corporation

Mitigations

No mitigations in place.

Possible further mitigations

Encourage adoption of Tor within the news organization MITIG111 proposed
Apt traffic over Tor MITIG91 proposed
Honeypot/dummy SD servers MITIG112 proposed
Use a VPN before connecting to the Tor network MITIG113 proposed

Residual risk

Candidate for further mitigation efforts.

Where it applies

Applies to 2 components in 1 scenario.

Application Server (host) Application Server
Monitoring Server (host) Monitoring Server

Physical and host layer · Application Server (host), Monitoring Server (host)

digraph tm {
    graph [
        fontname = Arial;
        fontsize = 14;
    ]
    node [
        fontname = Arial;
        fontsize = 14;
    ]
    edge [
        fontname = Arial;
        fontsize = 12;
    ]
    nodesep = 1;

    subgraph cluster_boundary_Application_Server {
        graph [
            fontsize = 10;
            fontcolor = black;
            style = dashed;
            color = firebrick2;
            label = <<i>Application Server</i>>;
        ]

        component_Application_Server__host__Application_Server [
            shape = circle;
            color = black;
            fontcolor = black;
            label = "Application\nServer (host)";
            URL = "component_Application_Server__host_.html";
            tooltip = "Application Server (host)";
            margin = 0.02;

            style = "filled";

            fillcolor = "#c0392b";

            fontcolor = "white";

            class = "highlighted";
        ]

        component_SecureDrop_Application_Application_Server [
            shape = circle;
            color = black;
            fontcolor = black;
            label = "SecureDrop\nApplication";
            URL = "component_SecureDrop_Application.html";
            tooltip = "SecureDrop Application";
            margin = 0.02;
        ]

    }

    subgraph cluster_boundary_Monitoring_Server {
        graph [
            fontsize = 10;
            fontcolor = black;
            style = dashed;
            color = firebrick2;
            label = <<i>Monitoring Server</i>>;
        ]

        component_Monitoring_Server__host__Monitoring_Server [
            shape = circle;
            color = black;
            fontcolor = black;
            label = "Monitoring\nServer (host)";
            URL = "component_Monitoring_Server__host_.html";
            tooltip = "Monitoring Server (host)";
            margin = 0.02;

            style = "filled";

            fillcolor = "#c0392b";

            fontcolor = "white";

            class = "highlighted";
        ]

        component_OSSEC_server_Monitoring_Server [
            shape = circle;
            color = black;
            fontcolor = black;
            label = "OSSEC server";
            URL = "component_OSSEC_server.html";
            tooltip = "OSSEC server";
            margin = 0.02;
        ]

    }

    subgraph cluster_boundary_SecureDrop_Area {
        graph [
            fontsize = 10;
            fontcolor = black;
            style = dashed;
            color = firebrick2;
            label = <<i>SecureDrop Area</i>>;
        ]

        component_SecureDrop_server_room_SecureDrop_Area [
            shape = circle;
            color = black;
            fontcolor = black;
            label = "SecureDrop\nserver room";
            URL = "component_SecureDrop_server_room.html";
            tooltip = "SecureDrop server room";
            margin = 0.02;
        ]

    }

    component_SecureDrop_Application_Application_Server -> component_Application_Server__host__Application_Server [        color = black;        fontcolor = black;        dir = forward;        label = "1. Services on app\nhost";    ]
    component_OSSEC_server_Monitoring_Server -> component_Monitoring_Server__host__Monitoring_Server [        color = black;        fontcolor = black;        dir = forward;        label = "2. Services on mon\nhost";    ]
    component_Application_Server__host__Application_Server -> component_SecureDrop_server_room_SecureDrop_Area [        color = black;        fontcolor = black;        dir = forward;        label = "3. Hosts in server\nroom";    ]
}

Notes

Further mitigations: Encourage adoption of Tor within the organization to 'normalize' Tor traffic (MITIG111). FPF repos served over Tor (MITIG91). FPF/volunteers could also run some honeypot SD servers that serve no purpose (MITIG112). Use a VPN before connecting to the Tor network (MITIG113). Automated test for mitigation: No.

How this threat is matched

Listed for these components. A boundary covers every component inside it.