Risk

How it is used

Central to management, audit and compliance language. Risks are identified, assessed, rated (low, medium, high), treated and accepted. The four classic responses are to mitigate, transfer (for example with insurance), avoid or accept a risk.

Example sentences

1. Running an unsupported operating system is a high risk we can no longer accept.

2. The risk owner signed off on the exception for six months.

Common collocations

• risk assessment
• accept a risk
• residual risk
• risk owner
• risk register

Related terms

• threatAnything that could cause harm to a system or to data, such as an attacker, a piece of malware, a careless employee or even a flood in the server room.
• vulnerabilityA weakness in software, hardware, a configuration or a process that an attacker could use to cause harm or to gain access they should not have.
• risk assessmentA structured process for identifying risks, estimating how likely and how serious they are, and deciding which ones need action first.
• mitigateTo reduce the likelihood or impact of a risk or attack when it cannot be removed completely, for example with a workaround or an extra control.
• security controlAny safeguard, whether technical, administrative or physical, that reduces a security risk, such as a firewall, a policy, a training course or a locked door.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• risk · Software Engineering
• risk · Project Management
• risk · Insurance

More terms: Governance, Risk and Compliance

• compliance
• security awareness
• security policy
• audit
• GDPR