Systematic Threat Modelling of High-Performance Computing Systems: The V:HPCCRI Case Study

High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems play a crucial role in different research and industry tasks, boasting high-intensity computing capacity, high-bandwidth network connections, and extensive storage at each HPC centre. The system’s objectives, coupled with the presence of valuable resources and sensitive data, make it an attractive target for malicious users. Traditionally, HPC systems are considered”trusted” with users having significant rights and limited protective measures in place. Additionally, its heterogeneous nature complicates security efforts. Applying traditional security measures to individual cluster nodes proves insufficient as it neglects the system’s holistic perspective. To address these challenges, this paper presents a methodology for collecting threats affecting HPC environments from the literature analysis using a Systematic Search. Key contributions of this work include the application of the presented methodology to support the HPC domain through the definition of an HPC-specific threat catalogue and, starting from it, the generation of a threat model for a real-world case study: the V:HPCCRI supercomputer.