IT Risk Assessment Practices

Course Overview

Updated in May 2025. This course now features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. This course begins by laying a strong foundation in risk identification and analysis. You'll explore the initial stages of the risk management lifecycle, focusing on pinpointing potential risk events and factors that could impact your organization. By delving into threat modeling and abuse-case modeling, you will gain a hands-on understanding of how to anticipate and mitigate risks before they become real-world issues. As the course progresses, you will be introduced to the essential practices of vulnerability assessment and testing. This module covers a range of techniques and tools designed to help you identify and test for vulnerabilities within your IT infrastructure. Through practical exercises, you will learn to create realistic risk scenarios, enhancing your ability to respond effectively to security breaches and potential threats. The course concludes with an in-depth exploration of risk assessment standards, tools, and methodologies. You will learn how to systematically analyze risks and their potential impact on business operations. By understanding how to conduct business impact analysis and categorize different types of risks, you will be well-prepared to develop robust risk management and business continuity strategies that align with your organization’s goals. This course is designed for IT professionals, risk managers, and cybersecurity analysts with a foundational understanding of IT concepts. Prior knowledge of basic cybersecurity principles is recommended but not required.