Check yourself: A threat model is not a fear list

Questions and answers, readable without JavaScript.

1. What does the note say a threat model actually is?

   • A complete list of every attack anyone has described
   • A short written record of what you protect, from whom, how bad failure would be, and which costs you accept
   • A hardening checklist copied from a security team
   • A ranking of the most secure wallets and devices
   Answer 1

   A short written record of what you protect, from whom, how bad failure would be, and which costs you accept

   The note's thesis: a one-page record of assets, adversaries, impact and accepted costs. Its real job is to tell you what you can safely ignore.

   Read the note → · A Threat Model Is Not a Fear List: Writing Yours on One Page

2. Why does the note say "my wallet" is not a good asset entry?

   • Wallets cannot be lost
   • Only devices count as assets
   • Assets should be the secrets, definitions, metadata and links that change what someone can do if copied or lost
   • Apps are covered by the app store's own threat model
   Answer 2

   Assets should be the secrets, definitions, metadata and links that change what someone can do if copied or lost

   Name the secrets, not the apps: seeds, nsecs, wallet definitions, metadata and linkability each fail differently.

   Read the note → · A Threat Model Is Not a Fear List: Writing Yours on One Page

3. For most beginners, what sits in the "would ruin me, plausible this year" cell?

   • Losing access to your own keys, and common malware or phishing on a hot device
   • A nation-state breaking secp256k1
   • A 51% attack on the chain
   • Quantum computers decrypting backups
   Answer 3

   Losing access to your own keys, and common malware or phishing on a hot device

   The note says the top cell usually holds two entries, and neither is a nation-state.

   Read the note → · A Threat Model Is Not a Fear List: Writing Yours on One Page

4. Why do extra seed copies and wallet encryption "pull in opposite directions"?

   • They don't: both strictly reduce every risk
   • Encryption makes copies impossible
   • Copies only matter for Monero
   • More copies protect against loss but raise theft exposure; encryption protects against theft but adds a secret you can forget
   Answer 4

   More copies protect against loss but raise theft exposure; encryption protects against theft but adds a secret you can forget

   A threat model doesn't remove that tension. It makes you choose deliberately.

   Read the note → · A Threat Model Is Not a Fear List: Writing Yours on One Page

5. Which line of the one-page template does the note call "the test"?

   • WHO
   • ACCEPTED
   • RECOVERY: what you'd do first if this device vanished tonight
   • REVIEW
   Answer 5

   RECOVERY: what you'd do first if this device vanished tonight

   If you can't write the recovery line, the note points you to the seed backup and recovery note next.

   Read the note → · A Threat Model Is Not a Fear List: Writing Yours on One Page