The article highlights the main destructive factors influencing the economic security of business, namely: risks, threats and dangers, the impact of which leads to undesirable changes in the structure, functions, parameters and effectiveness of business.
In the context of scientific research on the nature and relationship of the concepts of «risk», «danger», «threat», as well as their impact on business, the work of both foreign and domestic scientists. The analysis of modern economic scientific literature made it possible to explore the theoretical and methodological approaches of both domestic and foreign scientists in the interpretation of these economic categories. In turn, this allowed us to summarize and present the most common of the existing approaches to defining the categories of «threat», «risk» and «danger» using a table.
According to this study, a significant variety of approaches to these economic categories was identified, which led to an imbalance among scientific views and made it difficult to establish a single link between them. In addition, groups of scientists have been singled out, where some researchers identify the concepts of «risk», «threat» and «danger», while others distinguish them and see each other's sources of origin.
Given the analysis of the essence of the definition of «risk», «threat» and «danger», we present our own author's approaches to their interpretations, established the distinctions and relationships between them. The vision of interaction of categories «risk», «threat» and «danger» is resulted by means of the scheme-drawing.
The importance of a clear understanding of the nature and delimitation of each of the destructive factors, which is necessary for the implementation of research methodology of economic security of business, which allows to determine their scale and assess the impact on economic security. Thus, the identification and neutralization of potential and real risks, threats and dangers that negatively affect the state and effectiveness of entrepreneurial activity, necessitate new requirements to strengthen the economic security of entrepreneurial activity, and its level will determine the ability to resist destructive factors in the long run.
Thus, in turn, the results of the research provide an opportunity to prepare a basis for further research related to the definition of methods and areas of prevention and neutralization of destructive factors affecting the economic security of business.