AI Risk MapConfig Editor
Default configuration
Akos Szonyi
This tool is designed for tablet or desktop. Some panels may be easier to use on a larger screen.
Configuration label ● included in filename
Description / Narrative
Status
Default
5 × 5 Risk Rating Matrix

Rows = Impact (bottom to top: Insignificant → Catastrophic).  Columns = Likelihood (left to right: Rare → Almost Certain).
Click any cell to cycle its rating: LOW → MEDIUM → HIGH → EXTREME → LOW. Edit point scores inline to fine-tune ranking within a band. Amber outline = changed from default.

LOW MEDIUM HIGH EXTREME ⸻ Changed from default
Hover or click a cell to inspect

Move your cursor over any matrix cell to see what that likelihood × impact combination means for your organisation, and what the resulting risk rating requires in terms of management response.

What do the bands mean?

LOW Score 1–2 — Accept or monitor. Existing controls are likely adequate. Review annually.
MEDIUM Score 3–4 — Manage with procedures. Assign an owner. Review quarterly.
HIGH Score 5–7 — Requires active treatment plan. Senior management attention. Review monthly.
EXTREME Score 8–10 — Immediate action required. Escalate to executive level. Consider system suspension.

Point scores (pts) rank severity within a band. They do not affect which band a cell belongs to — only the label does. Use pts to distinguish cells that share a band but have different risk levels.

Answer → Strength Scoring

How much credit each survey and control answer receives. Drag a slider to adjust — the explanation updates live on the right.

Select a slider to see its effect
0.00
Hover over a slider or click it to see a detailed explanation of what this weight means for risk scoring.

How weights work

When someone answers a survey question or rates a control, their answer is multiplied by this weight before it contributes to risk reduction.

A weight of 1.0 = full credit. A weight of 0.5 means the evidence is treated as 50% effective. A weight of 0.0 means no risk reduction at all — treated as if unanswered.

The survey caps (Survey Evidence tab) then limit the total reduction these weights can produce.

Survey Evidence Caps

Survey answers (Vendor Survey + Internal Survey steps) can reduce inherent risk. These caps prevent survey responses alone from eliminating a risk — only implemented controls should do that.

How survey evidence works

The survey layer sits between Base risk and Control treatment. It produces the Inherent score shown in the heatmap.

Survey answers are aggregated into a single evidence strength (0–1). If strong evidence is present, the risk score is reduced by up to the cap number of matrix steps in likelihood or impact.

Default design rationale: The default caps (likelihood: 1, impact: 0) are deliberately conservative. A "Yes" to every vendor survey question should not make a HIGH risk disappear — it should shift it to MEDIUM at most, with controls doing the rest of the work.

Current settings — effect preview

Maximum Risk Reduction Caps

Even if every control is implemented, the total reduction is bounded by these caps. They prevent the model from eliminating risk entirely through controls alone.

Control Effect Types — Treatment Factors

Each control is classified by how it reduces risk. Factors (0.0–1.0) scale the credit each type receives. Drag a slider to adjust. A factor of 1.0 = full credit; 0.5 = half credit; 0.0 = no credit for that effect type.

Base Score & Company Strategy Bias

Adjust the starting risk score for each risk. The base score represents how serious this risk is before any survey or control evidence is considered. Apply a strategy % to reflect your organisation's specific risk appetite for that risk type.

1–2
3–4
5–7
8–10
1LOW/MEDIUM boundary — 2.5MEDIUM/HIGH — 4.5HIGH/EXTREME — 7.510
CodeRisk Base score (1–10) Strategy % (±100) Final

What is the base score?

The base score is the taxonomy score — a pre-calibrated measure of how inherently risky this AI risk type is, on a 1–10 scale. It feeds directly into the 5×5 matrix lookup to determine the starting risk band.

LOW
1-2
MED
3-4
HIGH
5-7
EXT
8-10

Override the base score when the default taxonomy score doesn't reflect your system's actual exposure — for example, if your AI system handles only structured data and the hallucination risk (normally scored 9) is less relevant, you might lower it to 6.

What is strategy bias?

Strategy bias (%) adjusts the base score up or down to reflect your organisation's strategic priorities and risk appetite. It amplifies or de-emphasises a risk before survey evidence and controls are applied.

Final = base × (1 + bias / 100) → capped at 10

Strategy mapping examples

Elevate a risk (positive %)
+30%You process sensitive customer or health data → elevate DAT-06 (Data Privacy)
+25%AI decisions affect regulated services → elevate GOV-03 (Regulatory Risk)
+20%Customer-facing AI in critical infrastructure → elevate BUS-02 (Reputation)
De-prioritise a risk (negative % — requires Allow Decrease)
-20%No agentic AI deployed → lower AGT-01 through AGT-07
-15%Internal tooling only, no public facing → lower BUS-02 (Reputation)
Active overrides
0
risks have a non-default score or bias