The OPSEC cycle is typically described as a repeating process with five to six core actions, depending on the doctrine being used. In most U.S. government and military references, the following are included in the OPSEC cycle:

Core OPSEC cycle actions

  • Identification of critical information (and indicators)
    Determining what specific information, if revealed, would damage mission success or organizational objectives, often formalized as a Critical Information List (CIL) or CII list.
  • Identification and analysis of threats
    Assessing who the adversaries are, what they want to know, and what capabilities and intent they have to obtain that information.
  • Analysis of vulnerabilities
    Finding the weak points in operations, processes, systems, or human behavior where critical information or indicators could be exposed to those threats.
  • Assessment of risks
    Combining threat and vulnerability information to judge the likelihood and potential impact of adversaries exploiting those vulnerabilities, then prioritizing what to address first.
  • Application of appropriate countermeasures
    Selecting and implementing practical measures (technical, procedural, or behavioral) to reduce or eliminate the identified risks to critical information.
  • Periodic assessment of effectiveness
    Reviewing and updating the OPSEC posture and countermeasures over time to verify they still work and adjusting to new threats, technologies, or mission changes; many sources treat this as an explicit sixth step.

Five-step vs. six-component wording

  • A widely used government monograph and many training materials present OPSEC as a five-step process :
    1. Identify critical information
    2. Analyze threats
    3. Analyze vulnerabilities
    4. Assess risks
    5. Apply/develop countermeasures.
  • Some newer departmental policies describe the OPSEC cycle as six components , explicitly adding a recurring “periodic assessment of effectiveness” step to emphasize that OPSEC is continuous, not one‑and‑done.

So, if you are answering a multiple‑choice question about “which of the following are included in the OPSEC cycle,” any option that corresponds to one of the actions above (identify critical information, analyze threats, analyze vulnerabilities, assess risks, apply/develop countermeasures, periodically assess effectiveness) should be marked as included.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.