Overview - ISO 22300:2025 (Security and resilience - Vocabulary)
ISO 22300:2025 is the fourth edition vocabulary standard published by ISO/TC 292. It provides a harmonized set of terms and definitions for security and resilience topics to promote consistent language across standards, policies and operational documents. The document is organized into three main term groups: terms related to security and resilience, terms related to risk, and terms related to management systems.
This edition refines and consolidates the ISO/TC 292 portfolio by removing overly specific terms, making many definitions more generic and adding new terms from recently published documents - improving clarity for practitioners working in business continuity, emergency management, crisis management and related fields.
Key topics and technical content
ISO 22300:2025 is a vocabulary (not a requirements) standard, so its technical value is in standardized terminology. Key topic areas covered include:
- Business continuity vocabulary: business continuity, business continuity management, business continuity plan, minimum business continuity objective (MBCO), maximum tolerable period of disruption (MTPD), recovery time objective (RTO), recovery point objective (RPO)
- Incident, emergency and crisis terms: event, incident, emergency, crisis, disaster, acute shock, chronic stress, evacuation, public warning, public warning system
- Risk and resilience concepts: disruption, impact, mitigation, prevention, preparedness, recovery, resilience, organizational resilience, disaster risk reduction
- Operational and management system terms: management systems, incident command, command and control, interoperability, mutual aid agreement, after‑action report, exercise, drill
- Protection and safety vocabulary: safety, security, protection, countermeasure, duty of care
Practical applications - who uses ISO 22300:2025
ISO 22300:2025 is a reference tool used to:
- Ensure consistent terminology in standards, policy documents, contracts and procedures
- Align cross‑organizational communications during incidents, exercises and multinational operations
- Support development and implementation of related standards (e.g., business continuity management, emergency management) and training materials
- Aid auditors, consultants, emergency managers, business continuity professionals, risk managers, infrastructure operators, public authorities, NGOs and civil society organizations in achieving common understanding
Related standards
- Part of the ISO/TC 292 portfolio (Security and resilience). It is commonly used alongside standards such as ISO 22301 (Business continuity management) and other ISO resilience/risk documents to ensure consistent definitions across implementation and compliance materials.
Keywords: ISO 22300:2025, security and resilience vocabulary, terms and definitions, business continuity, crisis management, RTO, RPO, MTPD, organizational resilience.
