Banks Warned Of Increase In ‘Cyber Threats’ By RBI, Suggested Remedial Measures

The banks have been asked to upgrade their online and cyber security keeping in mind the risks posed by cyber criminals.

Cyber Threats: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday directed banks to take measures and prepare security arrangements because of the increasing threats of cyber-attacks on the banking system in the country.

The banks identified by the RBI have been asked to upgrade their online and cyber security keeping in mind the risks posed by cyber criminals. The RBI alert is said to follow the latest round of the Cyber Security and Information Technology Examination (CSITE), said a report in Money Control quoting industry sources.

The industry sources also suggest that the central bank has also provided action points wherever deficiencies were spotted.

The Cyber Security and Information Technology Examination (CSITE) helps the RBI to assess various capabilities of banks, including disaster management readiness, internet and mobile banking platform capabilities, and fraud detection efficiency. The inspection team looks into the IT systems of all lenders, identifies loopholes, and issues action points, reports timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

“The RBI conducts a separate inspection to identify deficiencies in the cyber security capabilities of banks. This time, they met us and have given a list of action points where deficiencies need to be addressed,” said one of the bankers quoted above, reports timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had last week while addressing a gathering said that with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybersecurity challenges can rise manifold. He called upon financial institutions to dedicate substantial efforts to protect customer information.

“Financial institutions must dedicate substantial efforts to protect customer information and ensure that vulnerabilities exposing customers to risk are promptly identified and addressed,” Das had said adding that the litmus test of the working of any institution or entity is the efficacy of its grievance redressal mechanism.