Preliminary Communication
This article belongs to the Special Issue No. 1, 2026 on Security 4.0 – Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience of Information Systems (CYRES 2026)
K. Marić and J. Azemović, “Separation of Duties Without Shared Oversight: A Threat Model of the Identity Document Issuance Process in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” IJISE, no. S1, pp. 139–150, Oct. 2026, doi: 10.47960/3029-3200.2026.S1.139.
pages 139-150
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Abstract
The security of modern biometric travel documents relies on well-established cryptographic mechanisms. Consequently, security risks are increasingly associated not with forging the document itself, but with compromising the administrative process through which it is issued. This paper examines the issuance of identification documents in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a security system, focusing on points where formal separation of duties may not provide the expected level of protection. A reduced STRIDE threat model, covering tampering, spoofing, repudiation, and elevation of privilege, is combined with barrier analysis to examine how identified threats may occur, their potential consequences, and the controls available to prevent or detect them. Eight control points are assessed using three criteria: who is authorized to enter or modify data, whether information is independently verified against the original source record, and whether the resulting audit trail is maintained independently of the person performing the action. Separation of duties exists formally, with civil registration, application intake, and document personalization handled by different institutions. The paper therefore proposes preventive, detective, and corrective controls and evaluates their feasibility and proportionality.
Keywords
Threat Modeling, Separation of Duties, Identity Documents, Insider Threat, Audit Trail Integrity
ijise ID
35
Publication Date
In Press
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