Reserve Bank constitutes Inter-disciplinary Standing Committee on Cyber Security

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 28 February 2017 constituted an inter-disciplinary standing committee on cyber security. The committee will review the threats inherent in the existing and emerging technology.

The 11-member committee chaired by Meena Hemchandra, Executive Director, RBI, will study adoption of various security standards and protocols, interface with stakeholders and suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen cyber security and resilience.

Other members of the committee are

• Prof. H. Krishnamurthy, Principal Research Scientist, IISC, Bangalore

• Dr. A.S. Ramasastri, Director, IDRBT, Hyderabad

• Ashutosh Bahuguna, Scientist–C, CERT-In

• Nandkumar Sarvade, CEO, ReBIT, Mumbai

• R. Vittal Raj, Founder and Partner, M/s. Kumar & Raj, Chartered Accountants

• V. G. Sekar, GM, Department of Banking Supervision, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office (Member Secretary)

• S. Ganesh Kumar, CGM-in-Charge, Department of Information Technology, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office

• Krishna Sastry Pendalaya, Forensic Scientist

• Nanda S Dave, CGM, Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office

• R. Ravikumar, CGM, Department of Banking Supervision, Reserve Bank of India, Central Office

The notification of RBI says that the committee is free to co-opt more experts in this area. It can also operate through a framework of sub-committees, if required, to examine specific issues.

Earlier on 2 June 2016, RBI issued guidelines to banks mandating cyber security preparedness for addressing cyber risks. The guidelines were issued on the basis of the recommendations of the Expert Panel on Cyber Security and Information Technology Examination chaired by Meena Hemchandra.

Formation of the inter-disciplinary Standing Committee on Cyber Security was recommended on 8 February 2017 in RBI’s Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies, which was issued along with the Sixth Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2016-17.