Representing Attack Trees

Attack trees can be represented in different formats depending on the audience and purpose.

Graphical Representation

graph TD
    A[Attack system]

    A -->|AND| B[Gather knowledge]
    A -->|AND| C[Gain access]

    B -->|OR| B1[From insider]
    B -->|OR| B2[From components]

    C -->|OR| C1[Vendor access]
    C -->|OR| C2[Illegal entry]

Outline Format

Attack system (AND)

1.1 Gather knowledge (OR)
- Insider
- Components
1.2 Gain access (OR)
- Vendor
- Illegal entry

Structured Representations

Attack trees can also be treated as data structures.

Benefits:

Programmatic analysis
Cost modeling
Risk quantification

Some tools allow:

Assigning cost to nodes
Simulating attacker capabilities

Useful for complex systems or large-scale analysis.