An Overview of ISO 31000: The Risk Management Standard

Managing cybersecurity risk is not as simple as it sounds. You’ll often hear terms like “avoid,” “mitigate,” or “transfer,” but when you dig deeper, you realize these are broad strategies. The real challenge is translating them into actionable steps that measurably reduce risk.

What does it mean to “avoid” risk? Is it simply removing a risky process from the scope of a project? And how exactly do you “mitigate” risk beyond setting aside some reserves? Many organizations struggle here because they lack a systematic framework to manage risks.

ISO 31000 solves this by offering a structured, internationally recognized approach to risk management. It outlines identifying risks, assessing their likelihood and impact, evaluating treatment options, and monitoring them. 

Instead of relying on reactive measures, it provides a proactive process to manage uncertainty and protect your organization from potential disruptions.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the ISO 31000 risk management process and what steps you need to implement it effectively.

What is ISO 31000?

ISO 31000 is an internationally recognized standard defining best risk management practices. It provides a structured framework to help organizations systematically identify, assess, and address risks that could impact their objectives.

The standard is divided into 3 sections:

1. Principles
2. Framework
3. Process

Purpose of ISO 31000

ISO 31000 provides a solid framework for managing risks effectively for any organization, whether a tech company, a government body, or even a local community. 

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in or what specific risks you’re dealing with. ISO 31000 is built to be adaptable, making it useful for everyone, no matter the size or type of operation.

The standard helps you follow a rigid checklist and integrates risk management into your day-to-day operations and decision-making. 

See what Marlyse McQuillen has to say about risks in the age of AI:

It first appeared in 2009, but it’s been updated since then. In 2018, a major update shifted the focus to a more powerful approach emphasizing senior management involvement and weaving risk management into the overall business strategy.

Why does that matter? 

Risks aren’t isolated issues for your IT or compliance team to handle. They impact the entire organization, and the ISO 31000 framework encourages leadership to take ownership of those risks.

That said, it hasn’t been without criticism. 

Some experts feel the language could be more precise, and they’ve questioned how actionable the guidelines are. 

However, the core idea remains valuable: a risk management framework that helps organizations prioritize and tackle threats head-on, with leadership playing a key role in the process.

Key Principles of ISO 31000 Risk Management

ISO 31000 is built around a set of core principles designed to help organizations manage risk in a structured, efficient, and repeatable way. 

These risk management principles ensure that risk management activities are not isolated but integrated into the organization’s overall governance, strategy, and decision-making processes.

So, let’s walk through the core principles in a way that makes sense:

1. Inclusive

Risk management is not something your security team does alone. You need input from all the right people, such as department heads, project managers, and even your frontline staff. 

Why? Because they’re the ones seeing potential risks firsthand. The more perspectives you get, the better your plan will be.

Plus, don’t drown people in technical jargon. Make risk management easy to understand so it doesn’t feel overwhelming or abstract.

2. Dynamic 

Risks are not static. As businesses evolve, the risks they face also change. Technological advancements, regulatory updates, market fluctuations, and even internal changes like process upgrades can introduce new risks or change the nature of existing ones.

So, your risk management process must stay flexible and adapt as things change. 

3. Best available information 

When making decisions, use your best data — but don’t fall into the trap of waiting for perfect information. Risks will always involve some level of uncertainty.

For example, let’s say you’re launching a new product. You gather market insights, customer feedback, and legal reviews. That’s great, but there’s always the chance a competitor will make a move you didn’t see coming. 

The key is acting on what you know while preparing for surprises.

4. Human and cultural factors

You need to account for how people behave, the culture within your organization, and even individual biases.

For instance, if your company culture encourages employees to cut corners to hit targets, that’s a considerable risk factor. 

Or, if leadership isn’t fully on board with risk management efforts, things will fall apart quickly. Recognizing these human elements is essential for a practical risk strategy.

5. Continual improvement 

Organizations need to review and improve their risk management processes regularly. It includes updating risk management policy, running new risk assessments, or learning from past incidents; continuous progress is essential.

6. Integrated 

This principle is simple: Risk management should not be treated separately. It should be part of every business process.

For example, when your finance team signs a new vendor, they should review the vendor’s security posture as part of the process. The concepts of risk management should be second nature across the organization.

7. Structured and comprehensive 

You can’t afford a sloppy approach to risk management. It needs to be thorough, well-organized, and methodical. If it’s disorganized, you’ll have gaps where risks slip through.

8. Customized 

Every organization is different, so your risk management strategy needs to reflect your unique needs.

For example, a healthcare provider will focus on patient data privacy, while a retail company might be more concerned with supply chain risks. ISO 31000 encourages you to tailor the framework to fit your goals, risks, and operations.

How to implement the ISO 31000 framework?

The ISO 31000:2018 framework is designed to provide a structured and systematic approach to managing organizational risks. 

Hence, the implementation steps should cover the principles, framework, and process required to embed risk management into organizational practices. 

The steps are:

1. Understand the scope

The first step in implementing ISO 31000 is to define the scope of your risk management activities. This involves identifying the areas where risk management will be applied, including processes, projects, or organizational functions.

Key actions to take:

• Identify the internal and external factors influencing your organization (e.g., regulatory requirements, market conditions, stakeholder expectations).
• Define the boundaries of your risk management efforts — what risks will be included and excluded?
• Clarify the risk management objectives within your organization’s context to ensure alignment with strategic goals.

2. Conduct risk assessment

At this stage, your job is to identify your organization’s risks clearly. Map out your potential landmines before you start walking. 

You’ll want to gather your team and identify risks using different methods—maybe a brainstorming session, interviews with key people, or workshops. The idea is to leave no stone unturned. 

If it could impact your organization, you need to know about it.

Once you’ve got that list of risks, it’s time to dig a little deeper. Now you’re asking:

• How likely is this risk to happen?
• What’s the impact if it does?
• Can we control or reduce the risk in any way?

Risk Scoring Table

You can use a risk Scoring Table to assess and prioritize risks based on Likelihood and Impact.

1 to 5: Low risk – No immediate action required, but monitor periodically.

6 to 10: Medium risk – Requires attention but not urgent.

11 to 15: High risk – Needs to be addressed promptly.

16 to 20: Very high risk – Immediate action required to mitigate.

21 to 25: Critical risk – Must be addressed immediately, with urgent mitigation actions in place

Likelihood / Impact	1 (Low)	2 (Moderate)	3 (High)	4 (Very High)	5 (Almost Certain)
1 (Low)	1 (Minimal Impact)	2	3	4	5
2 (Moderate)	2	4	6	8	10
3 (High)	3	6	9	12	15
4 (Very High)	4	8	12	16	20
5 (Almost Certain)	5	10	15	20	25

3. Treat the Risks

After you’ve completed your risk assessment, the next step is to create a risk management plan. This is where you decide how to handle the identified risks, whether to avoid, transfer, or accept them. Here’s how to approach this:

• Look at the risks and figure out the best way to address them. Options include avoiding the risk, transferring it (e.g., through insurance), or accepting it if it’s within your tolerance level.
• Not every risk will be treated the same way. You’ll need to decide based on its severity and potential impact on your organization.
• Once you’ve decided, take action. This could involve changing processes, purchasing insurance, or implementing monitoring systems to track ongoing risks.
• Once the treatment is in place, continuously monitor its effectiveness. If things aren’t working as expected, reassess and adjust your plan.

See this video on how Sprinto helps manage risks:

4. Use a dedicated software for risk management

If you manually track risks across your entire organization, juggle spreadsheets, emails, and never-ending notes. 

Sounds exhausting. That’s because it is. 

Trying to stay on top of risks manually can quickly spiral into chaos. You’ll either miss critical gaps or drown in irrelevant details.

Also, along with identifying risks, you need to evaluate these risks in context and ask yourself:

• What’s the real impact on my business? 
• How does this compare to industry benchmarks? 

Without a structured approach, those answers end up being guesswork.

The more innovative way is to use a GRC platform like Sprinto

Effective risk management demands more than intuition. It requires data-driven decisions. That’s where tools like Sprinto come in.

Sprinto is your risk management GPS. It points out risks and helps you understand their real impact so you don’t overreact to minor issues or ignore critical threats. 

And when you integrate it directly with your cloud stack, Sprinto automatically detects vulnerabilities, from misconfigurations to access loopholes.

How Sprinto can help you 

Here’s how Sprinto makes risk management intentional, not reactive:

• Comprehensive Risk Library: Sprinto offers a ready-to-use risk library covering the most common security risks. But it’s flexible; you can also add custom risks unique to your business.
• Impact-Based Scoring: Assign impact scores to each risk to prioritize what matters.
• Continuous Updates: Sprinto ensures your risk register evolves as your business grows.
• Real-Time Insights: Sprinto automatically detects misconfigurations, giving you actionable data without the manual headaches.

ISO 31000: Benefits and Challenges Explained

The benefit of ISO 31000 is that it transforms how your organization operates by making smarter, risk-informed decisions. Let’s break down what that means:

• ISO 31000 helps companies define their risk appetite and how much they’re willing to take. Once that’s clear, setting realistic business goals matching your risk management capacity becomes easier.
• When risks are identified and assessed, decision-making becomes more informed and intentional. 
• You can prevent costly project delays, supply chain issues, or security breaches. This leads to more efficient operations, helping you avoid unexpected expenses and downtime. 
• A formal risk management process like ISO 31000 documents risks and mitigation strategies, increasing team accountability. 
• Risk management helps identify opportunities you might have missed. 
• ISO 31000 lays a solid foundation for adopting other standards, such as ISO 27001 (information security) or ISO 9001 (quality management). 

Challenges of implementing ISO 31000

• Shifting from established habits and behaviors to a risk-aware culture can be difficult. Risk management requires an ongoing mindset change.
• Implementing ISO 31000 demands significant time, effort, and expertise, which may be challenging for organizations with limited resources.
• ISO 31000 provides a broad framework that needs to be tailored to fit your organization’s unique context. It doesn’t offer ready-made answers or guarantee risk elimination.
• Quantifying ISO 31000’s benefits and impact is subjective and challenging, as no universal metric exists to evaluate its success or isolate its influence from other risk management factors.

ISO 31000 Risk Management vs. Other Standards: How Do They Stack Up?

Different industries and scenarios call for different risk management standards—and that’s where things can get confusing. You’ve probably heard of ISO 31000, ISO 27001, and even ISO 9001. 

But what sets them apart? Are they competing frameworks, or do they complement each other? Let’s take a look at the main differences.

Standards	Meaning
ISO 31000	ISO 31000 offers a framework for managing all organizational risks, not just information security. It applies to various risks, including business continuity, market fluctuations, currency changes, credit risks, operational challenges, and more.
ISO 27001	ISO 27001 focuses on information security. It’s designed to help organizations set up, maintain, and continuously improve an information security management system or ISMS, as it’s often called. On the other hand, ISO 31000 takes a broader approach to risk management. It doesn’t dive into the specifics of information security risks or how to treat them. If you’re looking for detailed guidance on security risk assessments, ISO 27001 is the framework you’d turn to.
ISO 9001	ISO 9001 is a requirements-based standard focused on building a quality management system (QMS). It’s more prescriptive, with specific criteria your business needs to meet if you’re aiming for certification. On the other hand, ISO 31000 gives you a framework to manage risks across your organization.
ISO 27005	ISO 31000 as the big-picture risk management guide. It’s super flexible and applies to any type of risk. However, ISO 27005 focuses on information security risks. It walks you through a structured process, starting from identifying, analyzing, and evaluating risks. It even uses a flow diagram to show how the risk management process works. If you’re dealing with all risks, ISO 31000 is your go-to. However, if you want to investigate cybersecurity risks specifically, ISO 27005 has you covered.

How Sprinto Enhances ISO 31000 Risk Management Implementation

You must remember that ISO 31000 is not a certification standard. It is a framework, but that doesn’t mean it’s less valuable. 

Many organizations use it to build strong risk management programs that guide decision-making. 

Interestingly, some organizations offer certifications based on ISO 31000, like the Certified Risk Management Professional (ISO 31000) or ISO 31000 Enterprise Risk Management Certification. 

But let’s get to the core: adopting ISO 31000 will give your business a risk mindset rather than chasing certifications.

When implemented well, this framework delivers significant advantages, including:

• A standardized approach to managing risks across your organization
• Practical guidance for embedding risk management into day-to-day operations
• Tools to contextualize risk based on your industry and organizational specifics
• Criteria for continuously monitoring, reviewing, and improving your risk management practices
• A foundation for integrating risk management into every business decision

Sounds great on paper, right? But the reality of modern risk management is far more dynamic and demanding. 

A good program has to pinpoint the exact risks that could impact your operations and address them with precision and speed.

ISO 31000 provides the philosophy behind risk management. Sprinto brings it to life.

It helps organizations move beyond intuition and adopt a data-driven approach to risk management that aligns perfectly with ISO 31000’s principles.

Here’s how Sprinto enhances risk management practices:

• Sprinto’s cloud-native integrations create an up-to-date asset inventory, automatically identifying associated risks.
• Sprinto enables you to assess risks with intention and precision with a risk register. 
• Sprinto’s built-in controls library automatically maps relevant controls to the risks you’ve identified. This ensures you’ve got the proper safeguards in place without wasting time on manual mapping.
• Sprinto sets up a risk management plan and keeps your risk management process alive by flagging misconfigurations and vulnerabilities as they arise, allowing you to tackle them before they escalate.

Sprinto bridges the gap between theoretical frameworks like ISO 31000 and real-world implementation.

Ready to get started?

FAQs

Is ISO 31000 a certification?

No. ISO 31000 is a risk management framework, not a certifiable standard. It provides guidelines and best practices for implementing risk management processes but doesn’t include certification requirements.

Is ISO 31000 free?

No. The standard is not free. You can purchase it through the ISO website or from your national standards body. Depending on your country, translations may also be available.

Is ISO a certification or accreditation?

ISO is neither. It develops standards. Certification is granted by accredited certification bodies that assess whether a business meets the requirements of a particular ISO standard. These certifications prove that a business complies with the given standard’s criteria.