_______ describes the potential that a weakness in hardware, software, process, or people will be identified and taken advantage of.
a. Vulnerability
b. Exploit
c. Threat
d. Risk
Answer: C
A threat is the potential that a vulnerability will be identified and exploited. Answer A is incorrect because a vulnerability is the weakness itself and not the likelihood that it will be identified and exploited. Answer B is incorrect because an exploit is the mechanism of taking advantage of a vulnerability rather than its likelihood of occurrence. Answer D is incorrect because risk is the likelihood that a threat will occur and the measure of its effect.