Google Cloud BigQuery Threat Model: Free and Open Source
We've released the ThreatModel for GCP BigQuery free and open source, covering every threat scenario and control to help security teams make informed, unbiased decisions.
TrustOnCloud is releasing the open-sourced ThreatModel for BigQuery. We've already open-sourced one for Azure and one for AWS and didn't want to make Google feel left out. This comprehensive document covers everything from threat scenarios to control activities, helping your security teams make informed, unbiased decisions.
You can interact with the data via ControlCatalog or download the document via GitHub.
The ThreatModel for GCP BigQuery allows you to simplify secure adoption and usage by defining all the controls you can consider as per the shared responsibility model. Use it as your go-to guide for ensuring robust security in your BigQuery environments.
With over 200+ ThreatModels published for our customers, the ThreatModel empowers organizations to take a proactive approach to secure their data and applications in GCP.
How to Use the ThreatModel for GCP BigQuery
At TrustOnCloud we help customers consume our threat models in different ways:
- ControlCatalog — Interactive website to pivot between threats and controls, map to MITRE ATT&CK®, see top threats, and understand specific flows
- Human Readable Documents — PDF/DOCX (76+ pages)
- Machine Readable Documents — JSON
The document might feel overwhelming at 76+ pages. Every page is relevant for at least one use case — your specific use case may only need a subset of pages. Here are the three main ways teams use this ThreatModel.
Use Case 1: Covering the Best Practices
The ThreatModel identifies the most impactful security controls, offering the best security/effort ratio for your BigQuery environment.
- Who for
- DevOps teams and/or not-too-sensitive workloads — or as we like to call it: "if it gets owned, we'll have a bad week, not a bad year"
- What to do
- Review your controls starting with "Very High" priority (using the implementation column). Test your controls work (using the testing column). Skip controls not relevant to your usage of the service.
- Where to look
- Page 59 — Appendix 1: Prioritized List for Control Implementation. This ranks controls based on their effectiveness.
Use Case 2: Reviewing by Application and Risk Tolerance
For organizations with complex data needs, the ThreatModel provides advanced configurations to ensure compliance and data integrity at scale.
- Who for
- Security Architects and teams responsible for sensitive or regulated workloads
- What to do
- Review the whole document. Some customers decide not to use a service for their highest application criticality, or take an exception-based approach. In other cases, services can proceed to internal steps like building IaC templates or configuring events in your CSPM.
- What you get
- A complete overview of the service, its features, threats, and controls.
- Where to look
- Everywhere. Typically there is a decision from the enterprise or agency on whether to use the service at all.
Use Case 3: Understanding Threats by Feature Class
The "Feature Classes" section categorizes different BigQuery features and their associated risks, helping you focus on what's most relevant to your specific use case.
- Who for
- Teams evaluating specific BigQuery features or investigating a particular threat surface
- What to do
- Navigate to the relevant Feature Class for your area of focus. Review the threats and controls scoped to that feature.
- Where to look
- Page 5 — Feature Classes section. Categorizes BigQuery features and their associated risks.
Conclusion
The ThreatModel for Google BigQuery is a powerful tool for organizations looking to secure their data and applications in the cloud. Whether you're covering best practices, reviewing services based on application risk tolerance, or facilitating technology onboarding for large enterprises, it gives security teams the information to make informed, proactive decisions.
Download it now for free and take the first step towards a more secure cloud journey. And if you want to see how it maps to your compliance framework or integrate it into your security workflow, book a 20-minute call with us.