ISO 27001 Risk Assessment Template

Risk assessment is the backbone of ISO 27001 — it is the process that determines which controls you implement, how you prioritize your security investments, and how you justify your Statement of Applicability to auditors. Yet many organizations struggle with risk assessment methodology, producing either overly simplistic assessments that auditors reject or impossibly complex matrices that no one maintains. This template strikes the right balance: rigorous enough to satisfy certification auditors, practical enough for a small team to complete and maintain. The spreadsheet implements a structured risk assessment methodology aligned with ISO 27001:2022 Clause 6.1.2 and ISO 27005 guidance. It walks you through the complete risk assessment lifecycle: asset identification, threat identification, vulnerability assessment, likelihood and impact scoring, risk level calculation, risk treatment decisions (mitigate, accept, transfer, avoid), and control selection with mapping to ISO 27001:2022 Annex A controls. The scoring system uses a clear 5x5 matrix with defined criteria for each likelihood and impact level, eliminating the subjectivity that often undermines risk assessment quality. What makes this template particularly valuable is the pre-populated threat catalog. Rather than starting from scratch, you begin with a comprehensive list of common information security threats relevant to technology companies — from ransomware and phishing to cloud misconfiguration and insider threats — and assess which are relevant to your organization. This approach ensures thoroughness while saving significant time. The template also includes a risk treatment plan worksheet that links directly to your risk register, creating a clear audit trail from identified risks through treatment decisions to implemented controls. This traceability is exactly what auditors look for during certification assessments.