Nirmala Sitharaman Addresses AI Cybersecurity Threats in Banking Sector,

The Finance Minister advised the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to develop a coordinated institutional mechanism to respond swiftly and effectively to any such threats.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday, along with Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, with Scheduled Commercial Banks and key stakeholders to assess the potential impact of emerging threats linked to recent developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) models, particularly the possibility of such technologies being misused to weaponise software vulnerabilities. Sitharaman urged all banks to take all necessary pre-emptive measures to secure their IT systems, safeguard customer data, and protect monetary resources.

During the meeting, the Union Finance Minister appreciated the work done by banks so far in strengthening cybersecurity systems and protocols, the Finance Ministry said in a post on X.

She noted, however, that the nature of the emerging threat from the latest AI Model is unprecedented and requires a very high degree of vigilance, preparedness and better coordination across financial institutions and banks.

The Finance Minister advised the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to develop a coordinated institutional mechanism to respond swiftly and effectively to any such threats.

She also directed banks to engage the best available cybersecurity professionals and specialised agencies to continuously strengthen the defensive and monitoring capabilities of the banks.

Banks were further advised to immediately report any suspicious activity or cyber incident to the relevant authorities, including the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, and to maintain close coordination with all agencies concerned.

“Emphasising the need for proactive action, the Union Finance Minister urged banks to take all necessary pre-emptive measures to secure their IT systems, safeguard customer data, and protect monetary resources. A robust mechanism for real-time threat intelligence sharing may be established among banks, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, and other relevant agencies so that emerging threats are identified early and disseminated across the ecosystem without delay,” the Finance Ministry said in its post.

The meeting was attended by Department of Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju, Director General of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team Sanjay Bahl, senior officials of RBI and NPCI, and MDs & CEOs of Scheduled Commercial Banks.

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