You Cannot Protect What
You Have Not Measured
A comprehensive cybersecurity risk assessment is the foundation of every effective security program. We identify your vulnerabilities, map your threats, quantify your risk, and deliver a prioritized remediation roadmap so you know exactly where to invest your security budget.
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Q: What is a cybersecurity risk assessment? A cybersecurity risk assessment is a systematic evaluation of your organization's technology infrastructure, policies, and procedures to identify vulnerabilities, map threats, and quantify the likelihood and impact of security incidents. The output is a prioritized remediation roadmap that tells you exactly where your greatest risks are and what to fix first. Schedule your assessment.
What Our Risk Assessment Includes
Our risk assessments go far beyond a vulnerability scan. We evaluate your entire security posture including technology, people, and processes to give you a complete picture of your risk exposure.
Asset Discovery and Inventory
We scan and catalog every device, application, cloud service, and data repository in your environment. You cannot protect assets you do not know you have, and shadow IT is everywhere.
Vulnerability Assessment
We perform internal and external vulnerability scans, identify missing patches, misconfigured systems, weak credentials, and exploitable software. Every finding is severity-ranked using CVSS scoring.
Access Control Review
We audit user accounts, permissions, group policies, and privileged access to find over-provisioned accounts, orphaned credentials, and violations of least-privilege principles that attackers exploit.
Policy and Procedure Gap Analysis
We review your existing security policies, acceptable use policies, incident response plans, and disaster recovery procedures against industry frameworks. Missing or outdated policies are flagged with templates provided.
Threat Landscape Analysis
We map the threat actors most likely to target your industry, including their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). This MITRE ATT&CK-aligned analysis ensures your defenses address real-world attack scenarios.
Risk Quantification
Using the FAIR (Factor Analysis of Information Risk) methodology, we translate technical vulnerabilities into business-impact terms. Board members and executives see risk in dollars, not just CVSS scores.
Our Risk Assessment Methodology
We follow a structured, repeatable process based on the NIST Risk Management Framework (NIST SP 800-37) and the FAIR model. This ensures consistency, thoroughness, and results that map directly to recognized industry standards.
Scope and Categorize
Define the assessment boundary, identify critical assets and data types, and categorize information systems by their importance to business operations.
Identify Threats and Vulnerabilities
Conduct technical scanning, configuration reviews, and stakeholder interviews to build a comprehensive picture of threats, vulnerabilities, and existing controls.
Analyze and Quantify Risk
Calculate the likelihood and impact of each risk scenario using FAIR methodology. Map risks to a heat matrix and translate findings into financial terms leadership can act on.
Prioritize and Remediate
Deliver a prioritized remediation roadmap ranked by risk severity, implementation cost, and business impact. Quick wins first, strategic initiatives planned over time.
Report and Monitor
Deliver executive and technical reports, present findings to leadership, and establish ongoing monitoring to track remediation progress and detect new risks.
Assessment Deliverables
Executive Summary Report
Board-ready overview of risk posture, top findings, and recommended priorities
Risk Heat Map
Visual matrix plotting likelihood vs. impact for every identified risk scenario
Detailed Vulnerability Report
Technical findings with CVSS scores, affected systems, and specific remediation steps
Prioritized Remediation Roadmap
Phased action plan with quick wins, 30-60-90 day milestones, and long-term strategy
Compliance Gap Analysis
Control-by-control mapping against your required framework (HIPAA, CMMC, SOC 2, etc.)
Types of Risk Assessments We Perform
Different industries and compliance frameworks require different assessment approaches. We tailor our methodology to your specific regulatory requirements and business context.
HIPAA Security Risk Assessment
Required annually for all HIPAA-covered entities and business associates. We assess administrative, physical, and technical safeguards against the HIPAA Security Rule, identifying gaps that could lead to breaches or OCR enforcement actions.
Learn more about HIPAA complianceCMMC Gap Assessment
For defense contractors pursuing CMMC certification. We evaluate your environment against all 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls, calculate your SPRS score, build your System Security Plan, and create a Plan of Action and Milestones to close gaps before the C3PAO assessment.
Learn more about CMMC complianceGeneral IT Risk Assessment
A comprehensive evaluation of your IT security posture for organizations without specific compliance mandates. Covers network security, endpoint protection, access controls, data protection, backup and recovery, and employee security awareness.
Learn more about cybersecurity servicesVendor and Third-Party Risk Assessment
Your vendors have access to your data and systems. We assess the security posture of your critical third-party providers, evaluate their compliance certifications, and help you build a vendor risk management program that protects your supply chain.
Learn more about audit servicesAssessment Timeline
Most risk assessments are completed within 2 to 4 weeks depending on the size and complexity of your environment. Here is what to expect.
Week 1
Kickoff meeting, scope definition, asset inventory, and stakeholder interviews
Week 2
Technical scanning, configuration reviews, policy gap analysis, and data flow mapping
Week 3
Risk analysis, quantification, heat map development, and remediation roadmap creation
Week 4
Report delivery, executive presentation, Q&A session, and remediation planning kickoff
Why Organizations Choose Petronella for Risk Assessments
Years of Risk Assessment Experience
Organizations Assessed Nationwide
Risk Management Framework Aligned
Quantitative Risk Analysis Model
Craig Petronella, Founder
CMMC Registered Practitioner and Licensed Digital Forensics Examiner with 30+ years of cybersecurity experience. Craig has led risk assessments for healthcare organizations, defense contractors, law firms, financial institutions, and technology companies of all sizes.
Our assessments are not checkbox exercises. We dig deep, find what matters, and give you an actionable plan that makes a measurable difference to your security posture.
Risk Assessment FAQ
How much does a cybersecurity risk assessment cost?
Cybersecurity risk assessment costs vary based on the size of your organization, number of systems in scope, and the compliance framework involved. A general IT risk assessment for a small business may start at a few thousand dollars, while comprehensive HIPAA or CMMC assessments for larger organizations can range from $10,000 to $50,000. Petronella provides transparent pricing after an initial scoping call.
How often should we conduct a risk assessment?
At minimum, organizations should conduct a comprehensive risk assessment annually. However, additional assessments should be triggered by significant changes such as major infrastructure upgrades, mergers or acquisitions, new compliance requirements, or after a security incident. HIPAA requires annual security risk assessments. CMMC and NIST frameworks recommend continuous risk monitoring with periodic formal assessments.
What is the difference between a risk assessment and a penetration test?
A risk assessment is a broad evaluation of your overall security posture, including policies, procedures, technical controls, and organizational readiness. A penetration test is a focused technical exercise where ethical hackers actively attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in your systems. Risk assessments identify what could go wrong and how likely it is. Penetration tests prove whether specific vulnerabilities are actually exploitable. Most organizations need both.
What is the FAIR risk assessment methodology?
FAIR (Factor Analysis of Information Risk) is a quantitative risk analysis framework that translates cybersecurity risk into financial terms. Instead of using qualitative labels like high, medium, and low, FAIR calculates the probable frequency and probable magnitude of future loss events in dollar amounts. This allows executives and board members to make informed decisions about security investments based on expected financial impact.
Do you perform risk assessments remotely?
Yes. While headquartered in Raleigh, NC, Petronella performs risk assessments for organizations nationwide. Most assessment activities — including vulnerability scanning, configuration reviews, policy analysis, and stakeholder interviews — can be conducted remotely. For organizations requiring on-site physical security reviews, we arrange in-person visits as part of the engagement.
What should we do after receiving our risk assessment results?
After receiving your risk assessment report, prioritize remediation based on the roadmap provided. Address critical and high-severity findings first, especially quick wins that reduce the most risk for the least effort. Assign owners to each remediation task, set deadlines, and track progress. Petronella can provide ongoing remediation support, managed security services, and follow-up assessments to verify that risks have been effectively mitigated.
Know Your Risk Before Your Attackers Do
Every effective security program starts with understanding where you are today. Our risk assessments give you the clarity, the numbers, and the roadmap to make informed security investments. The first consultation is free.