Information Security Risk Assessment

Information security risk assessments identify assets, enumerate threats and vulnerabilities, evaluate existing controls, and determine residual risk to prioritize security investments. Methodologies range from qualitative workshops to quantitative models like FAIR (Factor Analysis of Information Risk). Assessments typically consider confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts. For example, a hospital assessing electronic health record systems evaluates ransomware threats, authentication vulnerabilities, backup effectiveness, and potential patient safety and HIPAA penalty impacts. Results inform control selection, compensating controls for accepted risks, and security roadmaps. Regulations like HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and GDPR mandate periodic assessments with documented risk treatment decisions.