Nirmala Sitharaman to review cybersecurity prep of banks amid escalating India-Pakistan conflict

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will chair a high-level review meeting on May 9 evening to assess the cybersecurity preparedness of India’s financial institutions, sources said.

The virtual meeting comes in the wake of heightened concerns for critical banking infrastructure as India's conflict with Pakistan escalates.

"The FM is holding a review meeting today at 4.30 pm. Yes, we have issued a detailed advisory on it (cybersecurity),” a top government official told Moneycontrol.

The official was talking about a ministry advisory directing public sector banks and key financial institutions to strengthen digital security measures.

The meeting is expected to bring together senior officials from the finance ministry, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the payments system UPI and top public sector banks.

Agencies such as the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) may also be present, sources said.

The Centre has asked these institutions to remain alert and bolster cybersecurity across core banking systems, payment gateways, real-time gross settlement systems, and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) infrastructure.

On May 8 night, India repulsed Pakistani missiles and drones aimed at its border areas and military bases in Jammu, Pathankot, Udhampur and other locations.

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A day earlier, India launched Operation Sindoor, hitting nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir two weeks after 26 people were killed in a terror strike in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22.

India’s financial ecosystem, which processes billions of digital transactions daily, is considered a strategic target in such scenarios.

CERT-In and the RBI issued routine alerts to financial entities, but the latest advisory is more urgent. Focus areas are likely to include patching vulnerabilities, enhancing firewall security, enforcing two-factor authentication and real-time monitoring of any suspicious activity.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which works under the electronics and information technology ministry, is the nodal agency responsible for handling cybersecurity incidents and strengthening India’s internet ecosystem.

The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), under the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), is the agency tasked with protecting critical information infrastructure, the assets whose disruption can severely impact national security and economic stability.