Free IT Risk Assessment and Risk Management Templates

By Kate Eby | November 21, 2022

We’ve compiled free IT risk assessment and management templates for information security analysts, network security engineers, cryptographers, and chief information security officers. Use these templates to better assess and manage IT risks.

Included on this page, you’ll find a simple IT risk assessment template, an IT risk assessment checklist, an IT risk analysis template, an IT risk assessment policy template, and an IT risk management plan template. Plus, learn how to use an IT risk assessment template.

Simple IT Risk Assessment Template 

Example Simple IT Risk Assessment Template

Download a Sample Simple IT Risk Assessment Template for
Excel | Google Sheets

Download a Blank Simple IT Risk Assessment Template for
Excel | Google Sheets

Identify and assess IT project risks with this easy-to-fill simple IT risk assessment template. Using this template, IT project managers, security analysts, and vulnerability assessors can assess risks accurately and create effective risk mitigation plans. The template includes Risk, Control Environment, Risk Assessment, Control Activities, Controls Present, Risk Judgement, Likelihood, and Risk Level columns to ensure that you effectively capture every risk-related detail. Download the blank template to get started assessing risks in your IT project, or try the version with sample text for additional guidance in identifying and mitigating risk. 

Learn more about best practices from IT experts in this guide to a comprehensive IT compliance strategy.

IT Risk Assessment Checklist Template 

Example IT Risk Assessment Checklist Template

Download a Sample IT Risk Assessment Checklist Template for
Excel | Adobe PDF

Download a Blank IT Risk Assessment Checklist Template for
Excel | Adobe PDF

This IT risk assessment checklist template provides space for IT risk analysts and security incident responders to list IT risks, such as data governance, disaster recovery, and data integrity; select a risk rating; and make any relevant notes for each potential or existing risk. This template is the perfect tool for identifying IT project risks, assigning them a unique number for reference, and ensuring that teams effectively assess and mitigate each risk. Download the sample version of the template, which comes pre-filled with common IT risk categories and specific threats, or try the blank version to build your own IT risk checklist from scratch. 

To learn more about risk management, see this comprehensive guide to enterprise risk management frameworks and models.

IT Risk Analysis Template 

IT Risk Analysis Template

Download an IT Risk Analysis Template for 
Excel | Adobe PDF| Google Sheets 

Use this single-sheet, single-source IT risk analysis template to successfully capture the details of each IT risk. This easy-to-use template helps you identify risk categories and individual risks. Simply enter risk or hazard descriptions, vulnerabilities, asset(s), and consequences into the template, and provide the IT solution for each. Enter additional details, such as resources impacted, existing control measures, risk probabilities, risk impacts, and risk ratings, in order to ensure that you properly account for all risks to your IT department and put control measures in place to address them. 

For more resources and expert tips, see this guide to risk management programs and frameworks.

IT Risk Assessment Policy Template 

IT Risk Assessment Policy Template

Download an IT Risk Assessment Policy Template for 
Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Fully document your IT department’s risk policy and mitigation procedure with this IT risk assessment policy template. The template, which enables you to address and assess potential risks to your IT department, provides pre-built, detailed policy sections for software purchases, software use policies, security policies, service agreement policies, and more. This template is the perfect solution for IT departments that want to ensure they have adequately defined their security policies so that they can record, monitor, and mitigate risks correctly.

Use one of these free risk management plan templates to proactively identify potential risks, assess their probability, and implement mitigation methods.

IT Risk Management Plan Template 

IT Risk Management Plan Template

Download an IT Risk Management Plan Template for 
Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Docs

When it comes to risk assessment and risk management, what’s your IT department’s process? How do you plan for a cyber breach, manage security incidents, monitor regulatory compliance, protect data integrity, and plan for disaster recovery? 

This IT risk management plan template helps you mitigate IT risks before they happen by enabling you to organize and present a comprehensive IT risk mitigation plan. Use the template to define your IT department’s risk management plan, including your risk management process, roles and responsibilities, timeline impact, risk monitoring, risk categories, risk assessment, and mitigation grading matrices.

IT Risk Matrix Template 

IT Risk Assessment Matrix Template

Download an IT Risk Matrix Template for
Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this simplified IT risk matrix template to capture IT-related risks and to plan appropriate responses, so that you, your team, and your organization have a single-source document for mitigating risks. For each risk you need to assess, enter a unique reference ID, risk type, asset details, risk description, risk severity, risk likelihood, internal impact, user impact, trigger details, warnings, and mitigations. This IT risk matrix template allows you to assess risks, plan responses to threats, and contain risks with proactive planning.

IT Risk Acceptance Form 

IT Risk Acceptance Form Template

Download an IT Risk Acceptance Form Template for 
Excel | Adobe PDF

Obtain proper risk acceptance approvals with this customizable IT risk acceptance form template, which enables you to list risk category items, associated threats or hazards, impact levels, probability levels, risk ratings, control measures, and actions needed. The template also provides space to assign an owner to each risk. Use the sign-off field to ensure that you have a thorough record of all risk acceptance approvals.

IT Risk Assessment Questionnaire Template 

IT Risk Assessment Questionnaire Template

Download an IT Risk Assessment Questionnaire Template for
Excel | Google Sheets

This IT risk assessment questionnaire template is the perfect checklist template for IT departments or third-party vendors handling any of your organization’s information technology. This pre-filled template includes questions under Information Security, Data Center Security, Web Application Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Controls and Technology categories. This template also includes a Question Reference column where you might, for example, list an ISO 27001 step relating to managing information security. 

Download one of these free vendor risk assessment templates to help ensure that your third-party providers are compliant with your IT security standards.

IT Risk Assessment Dashboard Report Template 

IT Risk Assessment Dashboard Report Template

Download an IT Risk Assessment Dashboard Report Template for 
Excel | Google Sheets

Information security analysts, network security engineers, chief information security officers (CISOs), and other IT personnel can use this IT risk assessment dashboard report template for assessing and managing IT risks. This visually dynamic template includes a Gantt chart that indicates the linear progression of risk assessment tasks, a project risk status pie chart, a horizontal budget bar chart, and a vertical bar chart for tracking pending items. With this template, your IT group can easily monitor current risk management actions and assess other existing or potential risks. By doing so, your team will be prepared for any malicious attacks, viruses, or natural disasters.

IT Risk Register Template 

IT Risk Register Template

Download an IT Risk Register Template for 
Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Google Sheets

Clearly identify, assess, and manage any potential IT risks with this easy-to-fill IT risk register template. For each risk, enter its unique reference ID, title, description, impact, date identified, risk category, status, owner, risk rating, and close date. Customize the template as you see fit, and add rows as needed to keep your IT risk assessments and mitigation efforts effective and up to date.

What Is an IT Risk Assessment Template?

An IT risk assessment template is a tool that provides a framework for addressing potential IT threats and ensuring effective safeguards are in place. Use an IT risk assessment template to assess and manage potential cyber breaches and data-integrity issues. 

IT risk assessment templates use risk probability and risk severity ratings to determine the impact of potential risks to an IT team and a larger organization. An IT risk assessment template also lists what controls are present for the mitigation of each potential risk and what control activities have been taken to remedy threats to service or data integrity. 

Information security analysts (ISAs), network security engineers (NSEs), cryptographers, and chief information security officers (CISOs) can all use IT risk assessment  templates to improve their organization’s risk assessment and management effectiveness and efficiency.

How to Use an IT Risk Assessment Template

Successful IT risk assessment templates help IT teams identify potential risks, including disaster recovery, data integrity, and cyber breaches. These templates also reflect the details of each risk, including impact and likelihood, risk ratings, control measures, and mitigation information. 

A customizable IT risk assessment template allows you to modify the details surrounding your IT department’s risks, while also enabling you to detail each risk’s level, likelihood, impact, and mitigation plan. Though IT assessment templates vary, they typically include the following components:   

  • Risk ID: Enter the unique reference identification number for the potential or existing risk so that any IT team member or other stakeholder can reference it.  
  • Risk Name: Provide the name of each unique risk. 
  • Risk Category: List each risk’s category (e.g., disaster recovery, data integrity, regulatory compliance) so that it is clear to everyone what the risk is related to. 
  • Risk Description: Add a brief description for each risk so that it’s clear to each team member what the risk is and what it entails. 
  • Control: List what control(s) are present to mitigate each potential risk. 
  • Risk Assessment: Document your assessment of the risk.
  • Control Activities: Record your risk control activities so that any team member reviewing a risk’s mitigation status will be able to quickly gather what actions have already been taken. 
  • Impact Level: List the estimated damage that could be caused by the risk. 
  • Probability Level: Select the probability of each risk so that it’s clear to all IT team members the likeliness of each risk occurring. 
  • Risk Level: Assign a risk level for each risk so that IT team members can more easily prioritize risks. 
  • Owner: Assign an IT team member to each identified risk for assessment, management, or mitigation. 
  • Notes: Provide any additional details that will help IT team members assist in risk management and mitigation.

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