security-risk-analyst

name

security-risk-analyst

description

Guides information security risk analysis—risk identification and scoring, risk registers, threat/vulnerability/control mapping, treatment recommendations (accept/mitigate/transfer/avoid), third-party and supply-chain risk framing, business impact analysis, KRIs, and risk committee or board narratives. Aligns with ISO 27005 and NIST RMF concepts without full compliance audits. Use for security risk assessment, risk register maintenance, inherent/residual risk scoring, FAIR-style quantitative framing, treatment decisions, third-party risk tiers, or executive risk reporting—not SOC alert triage (soc-analyst), pentest execution (penetration-tester, web-pentester, network-pentester), control implementation (information-security-engineer, cloud-security-engineer), GRC program and audit prep (compliance-specialist), audit evidence automation (compliance-engineer, cloud-compliance-specialist), AI model risk programs (ai-risk-governance), or adversary simulation (red-team-specialist).

Security Risk Analyst

When to Use

• Build or refresh an information security risk register with owners and review cadence
• Score inherent and residual risk (likelihood × impact or FAIR-style loss estimates)
• Map threats, vulnerabilities, and controls to risk scenarios and control gaps
• Recommend treatment (accept, mitigate, transfer, avoid) with business justification
• Frame third-party and supply-chain risk tiers, questionnaires, and concentration
• Prepare business impact analysis inputs and KRIs for security risk committees
• Draft executive or board risk narratives (heat maps, top risks, trend, appetite)

When NOT to Use

• Triage SIEM/EDR alerts or SOC playbooks → soc-analyst
• Execute authorized pentests or exploitation → penetration-tester, web-pentester, network-pentester
• Implement IAM, encryption, SIEM, or cloud guardrails → information-security-engineer, cloud-security-engineer
• IAM entitlement design, access reviews, SoD matrices → iam-specialist
• GRC program, framework scope, audit coordination → compliance-specialist
• Automate SOC 2/ISO evidence and control attestation → compliance-engineer, cloud-compliance-specialist
• Define enterprise security strategy or IR program → cybersecurity
• Classify AI use cases and model governance → ai-risk-governance
• Plan adversary simulation campaigns → red-team-specialist
• Threat actor/campaign intel production → cti-analyst

Related skills

Need	Skill
Implement controls from risk treatment	information-security-engineer
IAM risk scenarios, SoD, access governance	iam-specialist
Cloud guardrails and CSPM remediation	cloud-security-engineer
GRC program, gap plans, audit prep	compliance-specialist
Audit evidence and framework mapping	compliance-engineer
Cloud-only compliance evidence	cloud-compliance-specialist
Security program, IR, pentest governance	cybersecurity
AI system risk tiers and model governance	ai-risk-governance
Sector campaigns, actor trends for threat-informed risk	cti-analyst
Authorized adversary simulation	red-team-specialist
SOC alert triage	soc-analyst
Pentest findings as risk input	penetration-tester
M&A/investment diligence and IC cyber briefs	cyber-diligence-governance

Core Workflows

1. Risk assessment intake

1. Define scope (business unit, system, vendor, program)
2. Identify assets, data classes, and dependencies
3. Capture threat events and vulnerabilities (see references)
4. Document existing controls and their effectiveness
5. Score inherent risk (before controls) and residual (after controls)
6. Compare to risk appetite and escalation thresholds

See references/risk_identification_and_scoring.md.

2. Risk register maintenance

Maintain one row per material risk scenario:

Field	Purpose
Risk ID	Stable identifier
Scenario	What could go wrong
Owner	Accountable business or tech lead
Inherent / residual	Scores and rationale
Treatment	accept / mitigate / transfer / avoid
Target date	For mitigation or acceptance expiry
KRI	Measurable indicator

Review quarterly minimum; re-score on major change, incident, or audit finding.

See references/security_risk_analyst_scope.md for boundaries.

3. Threat–vulnerability–control mapping

threat actor/event → vulnerability/condition → impact → existing controls → gap → residual risk

Link pentest, vuln scan, audit, and threat intel inputs without duplicating execution work.

See references/threat_vulnerability_control_mapping.md.

4. Treatment and acceptance

For each risk above appetite:

1. Propose treatment option(s) with cost, effort, and residual risk
2. Obtain risk owner and risk committee decision where required
3. Record accepted risks with approver, expiry, and compensating controls
4. Track mitigation tasks to closure; re-score residual on completion

See references/treatment_and_acceptance.md.

5. Third-party and supply-chain risk

Tier vendors by data access, criticality, and concentration. Align questionnaire depth to tier. Feed inherent risk into enterprise register; do not replace legal review.

See references/third_party_and_supply_chain_risk.md.

6. Reporting and governance

Produce committee-ready packs: top risks, heat map, trend, KRIs, treatment status, exceptions nearing expiry. Separate risk analysis from compliance attestation narratives.

See references/reporting_and_governance.md.

When to load references

• Scope and role boundaries → references/security_risk_analyst_scope.md
• Scoring scales and FAIR-style framing → references/risk_identification_and_scoring.md
• TVC mapping and control gaps → references/threat_vulnerability_control_mapping.md
• Treatment and risk acceptance → references/treatment_and_acceptance.md
• Vendor and supply chain → references/third_party_and_supply_chain_risk.md
• KRIs, committees, board narrative → references/reporting_and_governance.md