AI Risks in Banking: Centre Convenes High-Level Meeting

[

](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!2Pkw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9503dd58-bc9d-4aff-9c8b-6b92199f898e_600x350.png)

The Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Electronics and IT are stepping up scrutiny of AI-related threats to India’s banking system. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently chaired a high-level meeting with Scheduled Commercial Banks to gauge how newly emerging AI models could be misused against financial infrastructure, particularly through the weaponisation of software vulnerabilities.

Sitharaman flagged the scale of the emerging threat as unprecedented, calling for a high degree of vigilance, preparedness, and better coordination across financial institutions. She asked the Indian Banks’ Association to build a coordinated institutional mechanism so the sector can respond swiftly to such threats, and directed banks to bring in top cybersecurity talent and specialised agencies to strengthen their defensive and monitoring capabilities.

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Banks were also told to report any suspicious activity or cyber incident promptly to the relevant authorities, including CERT-In, and to stay closely coordinated with all concerned agencies. Sitharaman pressed banks to take pre-emptive steps to secure their IT systems, protect customer data, and safeguard monetary resources.

A key proposal from the meeting: a real-time threat-intelligence-sharing mechanism between banks, CERT-In, and other agencies, so emerging risks get flagged early and shared across the ecosystem without delay.

Source / reference link:
https://newsonair.gov.in/finance-minister-nirmala-sitharaman-it-minister-ashwini-vaishnaw-chair-meeting-on-ai-linked-risks-in-banking-sector/

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.