TechNova Solutions Ltd., a software development company and one of the Top 500 listed entities on the NSE, specialises in delivering customised…

TechNova Solutions Ltd., a software development company and one of the Top 500 listed entities on the NSE, specialises in delivering customised enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions. During the year, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) received a highly realistic voice message from a known vendor, "Apex Systems," detailing a last-minute change to their bank details for an upcoming 45 lakh payment for server maintenance licenses. The message seemed urgent and was syntactically correct, mimicking the vendor's typical communication style. The CFO, pressed for time, verbally approved the change to the accounts payable team without calling back the vendor to verify. A week later, while the accounts team was preparing for year-end closing, they found that Apex Systems had sent a formal inquiry regarding the delay in payment for the 45 lakh invoice. Investigation revealed the initial voice message was a sophisticated AI-generated deepfake designed to commit fraud. The money was transferred to a fraudulent account, and the 45 lakh loss was confirmed and recorded in the financial statements. The company immediately filed a police report and engaged its IT security team. The statutory auditors, M/s A & P Associates, determined that the company's internal controls over disbursements were deficient, specifically regarding change management for vendor banking details. The loss, though material (as it impacts profitability metrics), was determined not to be pervasive to the financial statements as a whole. The auditor's primary concern shifted to the design and implementation of internal controls to prevent future deepfake fraud. The audit efforts related to testing controls and substantive procedures on cash and payables increased by 15%. The management of TechNova had recently launched a new service line for green computing consultancy. They decided to prepare a statement detailing their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance to attract institutional investors. The management, impressed by the auditor's in-depth knowledge of IT security during the fraud investigation, proposed to appoint M/s A & P Associates to provide internal audit services for the current financial year's Quarter 4 period. Based on the above facts, answer the following: