When tasked with creating a threat model, what is the first step a team member should take?

The first step in creating a threat model is indeed to identify security objectives. This step is crucial as it sets the foundation for the entire threat modeling process. By clearly defining the security objectives, the team establishes what needs to be protected and what the risks are that could potentially impact these security goals. This could include aspects such as confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the application or data.

Identifying security objectives allows the team to focus their efforts on the areas that matter most to the organization’s security posture. It helps prioritize the threats that should be modeled, ensuring that the threat modeling exercise is aligned with the organization's overall risk management strategy. Without this initial understanding of security objectives, subsequent steps, such as surveying the application, identifying threats, or decomposing the application, may lack direction and effectiveness. Thus, starting with security objectives is a critical part of a structured and systematic approach to threat modeling.