If you're just beginning your security journey, a risk assessment might sound overwhelming – but it doesn’t have to be. Risk assessments are a foundational part of protecting your business and are required by many security and compliance frameworks like ISO 27001 and SOC 2.
This article breaks it down into simple, actionable steps to help you understand what a risk assessment is, why it matters, and how to get started.
What Is a Risk Assessment?
A risk assessment is the process of identifying potential threats to your organization, evaluating the likelihood and potential impact of those threats, and prioritizing actions to reduce them.
By conducting a risk assessment, you can:
Understand what could go wrong
Determine how bad the outcome could be
Decide what you can do to reduce the risk
Why Is It Important?
It builds your security foundation: A risk assessment helps you identify what’s most important to protect and where your weaknesses are so you can focus your security efforts effectively.
It’s required for compliance: Frameworks like ISO 27001 and SOC 2 expect you to conduct risk assessments regularly and to take action based on the results.
It supports smart decision-making: By identifying your top risks, you gain clarity on how to allocate time, budget, and resources to better protect your business..
Risk Assessments in Common Frameworks
ISO 27001: Requires a formal, repeatable risk assessment process that helps determine which controls (Annex A) are needed to mitigate identified risks.
SOC 2: Doesn’t mandate a specific risk assessment format but expects you to have a documented process for identifying and evaluating risks related to the Trust Services Criteria (e.g., security, availability, confidentiality).
Risk Assessment Checklist (For Beginners)
Think of a risk assessment as answering these key questions:
What could go wrong?
How bad would it be?
What can we do about it?
Define Your Scope
Decide what part of your organization the risk assessment will cover. This often aligns with your audit scope. A well-defined scope ensures your risk assessment and your audit stays focused and relevant.
Ask:
What systems, data, and processes are we trying to protect? (e.g., customer data, internal tools, employee records)
Who has access to them, and where do they live in our environment (e.g., offices, cloud platforms, vendors)?
Identify Risks
Consider both:
Threats – What bad things could happen? (e.g., phishing, ransomware, insider threats, supply chain attacks)
Vulnerabilities – What weaknesses could be exploited? (e.g., weak passwords, unpatched systems, misconfigured access controls)
Pro-Tip: Brainstorm with your key team members, or review past incidents, audit findings, and threat intelligence reports for ideas.
Analyze and Prioritize Risks
For each risk assess:
Likelihood - How probable is it?
Impact - How damaging would it be if it occurred?
NOTE: Use a risk matrix or scoring system to help prioritize. For a more comprehensive walkthrough, please leverage Drata’s Risk Assessment Overview help article.
Decide How to Treat Each Risk
For each risk, choose a treatment strategy:
Mitigate – Implement controls to reduce the risk (e.g., enable MFA, train employees)
Accept – Acknowledge the risk and tolerate the potential impact
Transfer – Shift the responsibility of the potential impact elsewhere (e.g., insurance, third-party handling)
Avoid – Eliminate the risk entirely by discontinuing the risky activity
For a more comprehensive overview of this, please leverage this Risk Treatment Types help article.
Create a Remediation Plan
For the risks you plan to mitigate, document:
Actions to be taken
What will you do?
Owner(s) responsible
Who is responsible for this risk?
Timeline
When will it be done?
For a more comprehensive overview of this in Drata, please leverage this Results and Treatment Plan help article.
Document Everything
Documentation is essential for demonstrating compliance and tracking progress over time. It supports key DCF requirements::
DCF-16: Annual Risk Assessment: Your documented risk assessment, including the identification, analysis, and evaluation of risks, serves as direct evidence for this control. Ensure it is reviewed and updated at least annually.
DCF-17: Remediation Plan: Your detailed remediation plan, outlining the actions you will take to address identified risks, satisfies this requirement. If you’ve documented your remediation plan separately from your main risk assessment, please upload a copy as evidence in DCF-17.
Best Practices
Review at least annually
Update your risk assessment at least once a year or whenever there are significant changes (e.g., new systems, vendors, locations).
Align with Business Objectives
Ensure your risk assessment supports your organization's goals and protects what's most critical to your operations.
Align with compliance frameworks
Make sure your risk assessment supports the requirements of any standards you’re targeting (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, etc.)
Involve Key Stakeholders
Get input from across the organization – IT, operations, legal, operations and leadership.
Make it a living process
Your threat landscape evolves, so should your risk assessment. Make sure you revisit them regularly.
Focus on mitigation
Not all risks can be eliminated, but most can be reduced. Document what you’re doing to address them.
Learn from Incidents
Use any security incidents or near-misses as opportunities to refine your risk assessment process and identify new risks or vulnerabilities.
You don’t need to be a security expert to get started with risk assessment. By asking the right questions and taking small, consistent steps, you’ll build a stronger security foundation and be better prepared for future growth, compliance, and resilience.
Ready to dive deeper?
Explore these additional resources to guide you through your Risk Assessment journey here at Drata: