What it does: FAIR provides a model for understanding, analyzing, and quantifying cyber risk and operational risk in financial terms, according to the Fair Institute. It’s unlike risk assessment frameworks that focus their output on qualitative color charts or numerical weighted scales. Instead it builds a foundation for developing a robust approach to information risk management.

How it operates: Developed by Jack Jones, former CISO of Nationwide Mutual Insurance, FAIR is primarily concerned with establishing accurate probabilities for the frequency and magnitude of data loss events. It is not a methodology for performing an enterprise or individual risk assessment, but provides a way for organizations to understand, analyze, and measure information risk.

Components include a taxonomy for information risk, standardized nomenclature for information-risk terms, a method for establishing data-collection criteria, measurement scales for risk factors, a computational engine for calculating risk, and a model for analyzing complex risk scenarios.