Risk-based prioritization is a well-defined process that prioritizes modules for testing. It uses risk analysis to highlight potential problem areas, whose failures have adverse consequences. The test use this risk analysis to select the most crucial tests. Thus, risk-based technique is to prioritize the cases based on some potential problems which may occur during the project.

• Probability of occurrence/fault likelihood: It indicates the probability of occurrence of problem.

• Severity of impact/failure impact: If the problem has occurred, how much impact does it have on the software?

Risk analysis uses these two components by first listing the potential problems and then assigning a probability and severity value for each identified problem.

A risk analysis table consists of the following columns:

• Problem ID: A unique identifier to facilitate referring to a risk factor
• • Potential problem Brief description of the problem

• Uncertainty factor: Probability of occurrence of the problem with probability values on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high).

• Severity of impact Severity values on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
• Risk exposure Product of probability of occurrence and severity of impact.