It is an entity or event with the potential to adversely impact a system through unauthorized acces, destruction, disclosure, denial of service or modification of data. Which of the following terms be

An attack is the actual execution or attempt to exploit a vulnerability, not merely the potential to cause harm.

A vulnerability is a specific weakness or flaw in a system that can be exploited, not the external entity or event that could cause harm.

In information security, a threat is formally defined as any circumstance or event with the potential to adversely impact organizational operations or assets through unauthorized access, destruction, disclosure, denial of service, or data modification. This definition aligns precisely with the NIST and CEH frameworks, which distinguish a threat from a risk (likelihood x impact) or a vulnerability (exploitable weakness). The threat itself does not require active exploitation - only the potential for harm.

Risk is the probability that a threat will exploit a vulnerability combined with the resulting impact, not the threat itself.