Cybersecurity, like every other field, has its own lingo, and the preciseness in how you use its terms is important. Risk, vulnerability, and threats are three of the most confusing words in cybersecurity because they can easily get mixed up.

Knowing the difference between these three terms can help you take necessary measures in protecting yourself from cyberattacks.

What Is a Threat in Cybersecurity?

In cybersecurity, a threat is anything that takes advantage of and worsens a loophole or vulnerability. Threats destroy the integrity, confidentiality, and security of your data, system, and people. A threat is also a process that increases the probability and possibility of a catastrophic occurrence. For example, a hacker can integrate a code onto your website to spread content unrelated to the brand, or they may install a virus to steal data and shut the website down forever.

There are two broad classifications of threats: internal and external.

1. Internal threats can be intentional but, in most cases, are unintentional, and happen due to human errors. For example, an unintentional threat could be when an employee unknowingly opens a file that exposes the system to specific threats. Conversely, an intentional internal threat occurs when an authorized individual deliberately leaks data or confidential information to threat actors.
2. External threats are intentional and conscious acts by malicious actors with different intents, including financial gain, espionage, or plain mischief. They compromise your system and data and are always looking to take advantage of any vulnerability found to steal sensitive data, money, or cause harm to your reputation. External threats can take the form of several techniques, such as Denial of Service (DOS) attacks, ransomware, Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks, malware, zero-day exploits, and phishing.

You should always be on the lookout for any threat. Stay informed about recent cyberattacks, online thefts, and how hackers exploited vulnerabilities. If you're in charge of security, monitor all the data in your system, organize a workshop to teach your employees how to spot phishing tactics cyberattackers use to gain access to sensitive data, and always adopt behavior-based safety tips when using the internet.

Risks in Cybersecurity Explained

A risk is the possibility of a catastrophic issue if a threat takes advantage of a particular vulnerability. It measures the probability of a threat causing a cybersecurity event and the extent of the damage that it can cause should that happen. For instance, a cyberattack on a hospital’s computer network (riddled with vulnerabilities) could disrupt patients' care and potentially put their lives in danger.

Here's the kicker: there will always be threats, but your risk probability of being attacked is low if there are fewer vulnerabilities and an excellent risk management process in place.

To manage risk, you first need to identify your assets. Think of assets as anything that will look attractive to threats—your sensitive data, your network, or even individuals within your systems. Then assess and identify the loopholes a threat might use to gain entry to your assets. After successfully identifying them, you can deploy and implement security control measures to limit the possible intrusion of threats.

Don’t stop there: continue to monitor and improve your risk management process, as threats never stop trying to gain access to your devices.

What Is a Vulnerability in Cybersecurity?

A vulnerability refers to loopholes, weaknesses, flaws, bugs, and misconfigurations that can risk your assets, system, database, and software, and subject them to internal and external threats. A threat can only gain access and carry out malicious acts on your system and database if an exploitable vulnerability exists.

In August 2022, Microsoft revealed that 80 percent of ransomware issues were linked to configuration errors in software and devices (and even poorly configured security products). Likewise, Cencys revealed in its 2022 report that poor configuration, such as feeble or exposed security control, unencrypted services, and personally signed certificates, causes 60 percent of cyber-related risks.

Vulnerabilities may be in the form of outdated software, bugs within an app or service, weak passwords, or your credit card details floating around on the internet. A network infrastructure, software, or database can have several vulnerabilities at once, and finding solutions to each may seem nearly impossible. But the good news is only two to five percent of these vulnerabilities result in data breaches, according to Kenna Security.

You can assess and identify vulnerabilities in your systems by regularly scanning via different penetration testing methods. Once you have identified the exploitable vulnerabilities, you can take the appropriate measures to patch or mitigate them before threat actors exploit them.

There are also some public resources that you can use to spot vulnerabilities and prioritize which are most likely to be exploited by threats so that you can manage the risk more effectively. Some examples are: Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures(CVEs) lists, Exploit Prediction Scoring System, and Common Vulnerability Scoring Systems.

Not the Same Thing, but All Intertwined

Although interrelated, risks, vulnerability, and threats are different concepts in cybersecurity. You can only eliminate some threats, irrespective of your system's effectiveness.

However, regular risk management practice will go a long way in adequately managing the risks.