Cyber Security Control & IT Risk Review — What to Get Right Before You Start
Cyber risk is now a Board-level line item, not an IT department memo. Regulators — SEBI, RBI, IRDAI, CERT-In, and the Ministry of Electronics and IT — have moved cybersecurity from a discretionary good practice to a documented, testable, reportable obligation, with real deadlines and real penalties attached. At PNPC Global, we have supported Boards and Audit Committees across India and the UAE since 1986 with the assurance work that sits underneath every governance certification.
What This Actually Covers
A Cyber Security Control & IT Risk Review is an independent assessment of the policies, technical controls, and governance processes an organisation has in place to protect its information systems, data, and digital infrastructure from unauthorised access, disruption, and compromise — and of how effectively those controls actually operate in day-to-day use. Unlike a penetration test, which simulates an attack to find exploitable technical vulnerabilities, or a certification audit for a specific standard, a control and IT risk review takes a governance, risk, and controls (GRC) lens: it maps your IT risk universe, evaluates the design of controls against a recognised framework (commonly COBIT 2019, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, or the NIST Cybersecurity Framework), tests whether those controls are operating as designed, and reports gaps with a prioritised remediation roadmap that the Board and Audit Committee can act on.
In India, this work increasingly sits at the intersection of several distinct but overlapping regulatory obligations rather than being a purely voluntary exercise.
For the full scope, current process and what PNPC includes, see the dedicated Cyber Security Control & IT Risk Review service page.
Signs This Applies to You
- You are a SEBI-registered intermediary or market infrastructure institution (stock broker, mutual fund/AMC, depository participant, RTA, exchange, clearing corporation, or similar Regulated Entity) and SEBI's Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework (CSCRF) requires periodic risk assessment, Board reporting, and CISO oversight of your cyber posture — or you are a listed company with cybersecurity incident and materiality disclosure obligations under SEBI's LODR Regulations
- You are a bank, NBFC, payment aggregator, or other RBI-regulated entity subject to a Board-approved cybersecurity policy, mandatory periodic VAPT, and a defined cyber-crisis management plan under RBI's cybersecurity framework circulars
- Your statutory auditor's IFC review under Section 143(3)(i) or CARO 2020 commentary depends on IT General Controls — access management, change management, backups — that have never been independently tested
- You process or store personal data at scale and need to assess your control readiness ahead of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 rules taking full effect, including breach notification and data fiduciary obligations
Before You Assume You Need This
- You need to know whether specific systems can be technically breached right now — that calls for a Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Test (VAPT), a narrower and more technical engagement than a governance-level control review, though the two are complementary and often sequenced together
- You need formal certification against ISO/IEC 27001 for a customer contract or tender requirement — that requires a certification audit by an accredited certification body; PNPC can prepare you for it, but cannot issue the certificate itself
- You are a very early-stage startup with minimal customer data, no regulatory trigger, and no near-term enterprise sales or funding requirement — a lighter security hygiene checklist embedded in your IT setup is more proportionate than a full framework-based review
Common Questions
What exactly is a Cyber Security Control & IT Risk Review, in plain terms?
It is an independent check on whether your organisation's cybersecurity policies and technical controls are properly designed and are actually being followed in practice — not just written down. We map your IT risk areas, test access controls, network security, data protection practices, incident response readiness, and vendor risk against a recognised framework, then report gaps to your Board or Audit Committee with a prioritised plan to fix them.
Is this the same as a penetration test?
No. A penetration test (VAPT) actively attempts to technically exploit vulnerabilities in your systems and networks to see what an attacker could achieve. A Cyber Security Control & IT Risk Review takes a broader governance and controls view — policies, access management, vendor risk, incident response readiness, and regulatory compliance — and evaluates whether the overall control environment is sound. The two are complementary; many clients commission VAPT as a technical component within the broader review, but they are not interchangeable.
Does my company legally need this review, or is it optional?
It depends on your regulatory category. SEBI-registered intermediaries and market infrastructure institutions (stock brokers, mutual funds/AMCs, depository participants, RTAs, exchanges, clearing corporations, and similar Regulated Entities) fall under SEBI's Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience Framework (CSCRF), which mandates periodic risk assessment and Board-level reporting; listed companies generally (even if not a CSCRF-covered intermediary) carry a narrower cybersecurity incident and materiality disclosure obligation under SEBI's LODR Regulations. Banks, NBFCs, and payment system operators fall under RBI's cybersecurity framework circulars, which require a Board-approved cybersecurity policy and periodic VAPT. Every entity that is a 'designated entity' under CERT-In's April 2022 directions has specific logging and incident-reporting obligations. If none of these apply to you directly, the review is not a standalone statutory requirement — but it remains good governance practice, particularly if IT systems underpin your financial reporting (relevant to your statutory auditor's Section 143(3)(i) opinion) or if you handle personal data that will trigger obligations under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.
Working With PNPC Global
Cyber risk sits on your Board's agenda whether or not you have tested it yet — talk to PNPC Global before your regulator, your auditor, or an incident does the testing for you.
PNPC Global has advised Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad businesses since 1986. Explore the full Audit & Assurance practice for related services, or go straight to the Cyber Security Control & IT Risk Review page for specifics.
Rates, thresholds and filing dates are set by the relevant authority and revised periodically. Treat anything numeric here as "ask PNPC for the current figure," not as a quoted fact.