Episode 5 — Risk Language: Severity vs Impact vs Likelihood
This episode teaches you to talk about risk the way security leaders and exam questions expect, by separating technical severity from business impact and likelihood. You’ll define each term in plain language, then learn how they interact when prioritizing findings and recommending remediation, including situations where a high-severity vulnerability has limited impact due to compensating controls, or a moderate technical issue creates high operational damage because it affects a critical system. We’ll cover how exposure, required privileges, and existing monitoring influence likelihood, and how poor wording can lead to the wrong answer when two options differ only in how they frame the risk. You’ll practice translating technical observations into crisp risk statements that support action, using scenario examples that require you to pick the most accurate description rather than the most dramatic one. By the end, you’ll be able to justify prioritization decisions clearly and consistently, improving both exam performance and real-world reporting quality. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with.
