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Governance, Risk, Audit & Privacy · Foundational

Threat

Any potential cause of an unwanted incident that may harm an asset, such as an actor, event, or circumstance.

Definition

Threats include adversarial actors (criminals, insiders, nation-states), accidental human error, environmental events, and structural failures. A threat agent or threat actor is the entity that carries out the threat. Threats are generally outside an organization's control, whereas vulnerabilities can be reduced.

Example

A hurricane threatens a coastal data center; a phishing gang threatens user credentials.

Exam tip

Organizations usually cannot reduce threats themselves, so controls focus on vulnerabilities and impact.

Don't confuse it with

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