Data Flow Diagram

Definitions

1. A diagram that shows how data moves between users, services, processes, stores, and trust boundaries within a system. Security teams use data flow diagrams during threat modeling to spot attack surfaces, sensitive data paths, and implicit trust assumptions.

   In plain English: A map of where data travels through a system.

   Example: "We could not finish the threat model until the team updated the data flow diagram for the new webhook path."

Related Terms

• Zero Trust
• Attack Chain
• Attack Surface
• Attack Tree
• Attack Pattern
• Attack Vector
• Attacker Profile
• Hack Value