Threat modelling a biotech lab-data platform

The client is a UK biotech designing a new platform to hold irreplaceable research data and intellectual property. This is the kind of asset that cannot simply be restored from backup if it leaks.

They understood that the most expensive security mistakes get baked into architecture, and wanted those risks surfaced while they were still cheap to change.

A new platform would hold irreplaceable research data and intellectual property, the kind of asset that cannot simply be restored from backup if it leaks. The value at stake made design-level security critical.

The most expensive security mistakes get baked into the architecture, where they are far costlier to fix after build. Timing was everything.

The biotech wanted those risks surfaced while they were still cheap to change: on the whiteboard, not in production. Catching them early was the whole point.

We ran structured threat modelling alongside the architects, mapping abuse cases and trust boundaries across the proposed design. Working with the architects at design time is what makes mitigations cheap.

Using STRIDE and attack trees, we reasoned systematically about how research IP could be exposed or tampered with. A structured method is what ensures the analysis is thorough, not ad hoc.

Each risk was translated into a concrete design change rather than a future patch, so mitigations became part of the build, and prioritising by impact on research integrity kept the team focused on what genuinely mattered. Security became part of the architecture from the start.