What term describes an entity or event with the potential to adversely impact a system?

• A. Vulnerability
• B. Threat
• C. Risk
• D. Control

Answer: (B)

A threat is the entity or event that could cause harm to a system. It represents the potential source of damage—for example, a hacker, malware, or a natural disaster—anything that could adversely impact the system if it exploits a weakness. This differs from a vulnerability, which is the actual weakness that could be exploited, and from risk, which combines the likelihood of the threat exploiting the vulnerability with the impact of that event. A control is something put in place to reduce that risk. So the term that best fits “an entity or event with the potential to adversely impact a system” is threat.