Information systems are not perfect, nor are the people that interact with them or the environments in which they function. As such, systems are vulnerable to misuse, interruptions and manipulation.

A threat is the potential to cause unauthorized disclosure, unavailability, changes, or destruction of an asset.

Threats can come from inside or outside HHS.

– External forces can disrupt a system, such as a hacker maliciously accessing or corrupting data, or a storm disrupting power and network access.

– An example of an internal threat is an employee who inappropriately changes, deletes, or uses data.