| name | RA-3_risk-assessment |
| description | Conduct a risk assessment, including: Identifying threats to and vulnerabilities in the system; Determining the likelihood and magnitude of harm from |
| category | information-gathering |
| version | 5.2.0 |
| author | cyberstrike-official |
| tags | ["nist","sp800-53","rev5","ra-3","ra"] |
| tech_stack | ["any"] |
| cwe_ids | [] |
| chains_with | ["CA-3","CA-6","CM-4","CM-13","CP-6","CP-7","IA-8","MA-5","PE-3","PE-8"] |
| prerequisites | [] |
| severity_boost | {"CA-3":"Chain with CA-3 for comprehensive security coverage","CA-6":"Chain with CA-6 for comprehensive security coverage","CM-4":"Chain with CM-4 for comprehensive security coverage"} |
RA-3 Risk Assessment
High-Level Description
Family: Risk Assessment (RA)
Framework: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5
Risk assessments consider threats, vulnerabilities, likelihood, and impact to organizational operations and assets, individuals, other organizations, and the Nation. Risk assessments also consider risk from external parties, including contractors who operate systems on behalf of the organization, individuals who access organizational systems, service providers, and outsourcing entities.
Organizations can conduct risk assessments at all three levels in the risk management hierarchy (i.e., organization level, mission/business process level, or information system level) and at any stage in the system development life cycle. Risk assessments can also be conducted at various steps in the Risk Management Framework, including preparation, categorization, control selection, control implementation, control assessment, authorization, and control monitoring. Risk assessment is an ongoing activity carried out throughout the system development life cycle.
Risk assessments can also address information related to the system, including system design, the intended use of the system, testing results, and supply chain-related information or artifacts. Risk assessments can play an important role in control selection processes, particularly during the application of tailoring guidance and in the earliest phases of capability determination.
What to Check
How to Test
Step 1: Review Documentation
Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for RA-3 implementation details. Verify the organization has documented how this control is satisfied.
Step 2: Validate Implementation
# For cloud environments, use cloud-audit-mcp tools
# For on-premises, review system configurations directly
# Example: Check if account management policies exist
grep -r "account.management\|access.control" /etc/security/ 2>/dev/null
Step 3: Test Operating Effectiveness
Verify the control is actively functioning, not just documented. Check logs, configurations, and operational evidence.
Tools
