Step 3: Conduct a Risk Assessment
Risk Assessments Set The Stage
You can't protect what you don't understand
Why a Risk Assessment is Non-Negotiable
A risk assessment identifies the critical assets within your organization and evaluates the threats, vulnerabilities, and potential business impact if something goes wrong.
Whether you’re pursuing HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, or NIST CSF, a risk assessment is foundational. It’s not just a compliance checkbox—it’s your strategic blueprint for security.
Where Organizations Go Wrong
They treat risk like a one-time Excel exercise
They don't properly grade “likelihood” and “impact”
They neglect to involve leadership or business owners
They run risk in isolation from their compliance program
Steps to a Successful Risk Assessment
Choose a Risk Methodology
Start with a simple framework like NIST CSF and scale from there.
Inventory
Your Assets
What systems, data, and processes are critical to your business and customer trust?
Identify Threats & Vulnerabilities
What could go wrong — human error, third-party failures, ransomware, etc.?
Evaluate Likelihood
& Impact
Score each risk based on potential damage and how likely it is to happen.
Map to
Controls
Link each risk to specific controls (existing or missing) across your framework.
Assign Ownership
& Review
Assign accountability for each risk. Then review least annually or when changes occur.
Identify the Gaps
Once you understand your risks, it’s time to see how your current security controls measure up.
Your next step is to evaluate where your program stands against your chosen framework(s) and build a prioritized remediation plan.
