Amidst the unfolding safety issues arising from tensions on the border with Pakistan, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday (May 9, 2025) chaired a gathering to evaluate the cybersecurity preparedness of India’s monetary establishments.
During the assembly, she instructed all banks to coordinate with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and CERT-In to make sure fast responses in the occasion of a cyberattack.
Also learn: Operation Sindoor updates on May 9, 2025
Ms. Sitharaman additionally instructed banks to designate two devoted senior officers on the headquarters — one for reporting all cyber-related incidents, and the opposite to make sure operational issues, together with the functioning of financial institution branches and the supply of money in ATMs.
Both officers are to report any incident to CERT-In or the related companies and the Department of Financial Services (DFS) “on a real-time basis”.
The assembly was attended by the managing administrators and CEOs of private and non-private sector banks and insurance coverage corporations, other than senior officers from DFS, CERT-In, RBI, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and National Payments Corporation of India.
According to an official launch, the financial institution officers knowledgeable Ms. Sitharaman that anti-DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) techniques have been applied by banks to guard towards large cyber-attacks. Mock drills have additionally been held encompassing cybersecurity and catastrophe restoration eventualities “at the highest levels”.
The financial institution officers additional stated that their Security Operations Centre and Network Operations Centres are “fully operational and on high alert” and are coordinating carefully with CERT-In and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC).
Ms. Sitharaman directed all of the banks to make sure that they’ll deal with “any eventuality or crisis” to make sure uninterrupted providers throughout the nation, particularly in border areas. She additional stated that precedence have to be given to “seamless cash availability at ATMs, uninterrupted UPI and internet banking services, and continued access to essential banking facilities”.
She additional directed the insurance coverage corporations to verify claims are settled in a well timed method, and that sponsor banks should make sure that regional rural banks (RRBs) are additionally supported and helped throughout these occasions.
Published – May 09, 2025 07:49 pm IST
