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The Reserve Bank of India mandates a comprehensive framework for Small Finance Banks to manage information technology and cybersecurity risks. Banks must establish an IT Governance Framework, a Board-level IT Strategy Committee, and an Information Security Committee. The directions require banks to implement robust cybersecurity controls, including data leak prevention, secure configuration, network security, and continuous surveillance through a Cyber Security Operations Centre. Banks must conduct periodic vulnerability assessments and penetration testing on critical systems. The framework also covers business continuity, disaster recovery, and incident response management. Banks must report cyber incidents to the RBI within six hours of detection. These directions apply to all Small Finance Banks and take effect immediately.
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RBI/DoS/2026-27/419 DoS.CO.CSITEG.13/31.01.015/2026-27 July 31, 2026
In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 27 and Section 35-A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and all other provisions / laws enabling the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) in this regard, RBI being satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in the public interest so to do, hereby issues Directions hereinafter specified.
These Directions shall be called the Reserve Bank of India (Small Finance Banks - Cybersecurity, Technology: Risk, Resilience and Assurance Framework) Directions, 2026.
These Directions shall come into force with immediate effect.
(1) ‘Audit Trail’ - A chronological record that reconstructs and examines the sequence of activities surrounding or leading to a specific operation, procedure, or event in a security-relevant transaction from inception to result. (Source: NIST SP 800-53r5 on Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations)
(2) ‘Availability’ - Property of being accessible and usable on demand by an authorised entity.
(3) ‘Confidentiality’ - Property that information is neither made available nor disclosed to unauthorised individuals, entities, processes, or systems.
(4) ‘Cyber’ - Relating to, within, or through the medium of the interconnected information infrastructure of interactions among persons, processes, data, and information systems.
(5) ‘Cyber Event’ - Any observable occurrence in an information system. Cyber events sometimes provide indication that a cyber incident is occurring.
(6) ‘Cybersecurity’ - Preservation of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information and / or information systems through the cyber medium. In addition, other properties, such as authenticity, accountability, non-repudiation, and reliability can also be involved.
(7) ‘Cyber Incident’ - A cyber event that adversely affects the cybersecurity of an information asset whether resulting from malicious activity or not. (Source: Cyber incident definition is adapted from FSB Cyber Lexicon. By the definition, it includes cybersecurity incidents as well as IT incidents)
(8) ‘Cyber Resilience’ - The ability of an organisation to continue to carry out its mission by anticipating and adapting to cyber threats and other relevant changes in the environment and by withstanding, containing, and rapidly recovering from cyber incidents.
(9) ‘Cyber-attack’ - Malicious attempt(s) to exploit vulnerabilities through the cyber medium to damage, disrupt, or gain unauthorised access to assets.
(10) ‘Cyber Threat’ - A circumstance with the potential to exploit one or more vulnerabilities that adversely affects cybersecurity.
(11) ‘Data Dictionary’ - A description of data in business terms, including information about the data. It includes elements like data types, structure details, and security restrictions. (Source: ISACA glossary)
(12) ‘De-militarized Zone’ or ‘DMZ’ - A perimeter network segment that is logically between internal and external networks. (Source: NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 2)
(13) ‘Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)’ - A denial of service that is carried out using numerous sources simultaneously.
(14) ‘Digital Forensics’ - The process used to acquire, preserve, analyse, and report on evidence using scientific methods that are demonstrably reliable, accurate, and repeatable. (Source: adapted from NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Science Challenges)
(15) ‘Honeypot’ - A specially configured server, also known as a decoy server, designed to attract and monitor intruders in a manner so that their actions do not affect production systems. (Source: ISACA glossary)
(16) ‘Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)’ - Identifying signs that a cyber incident may have occurred or may be currently occurring.
(17) ‘Information Asset’ - Any piece of data, device, or other component of the environment that supports information-related activities. Information Assets include information system, data, hardware, and software. (Source: Information Asset definition is adapted from “Guidance on cyber resilience for financial market infrastructures” publication of Bank for International Settlements and International Organization of Securities Commissions of June 2016)
(18) ‘Information Systems (IS)’ - Set of applications, services, information technology assets, or other information-handling components, which includes the operating environment and networks.
(19) ‘Integrity’ - Property of accuracy and completeness.
(20) ‘Information Technology (IT) Governance’ - The responsibility of executives and the board of directors; consists of the leadership, organisational structures, and processes that ensure that the enterprise’s IT sustains and extends the enterprise's strategies and objectives. (Source: ISACA glossary and COBIT)
(21) ‘IT Risk’ - The business risk associated with the use, ownership, operation, involvement, influence, and adoption of IT within an enterprise. (Source: ISACA glossary)
(22) ‘Framework’ - A structured set of strategies, policies, processes, methods, and best practices that guides organisational activities, enables governance and control, and supports the achievement of defined objectives. (Source: ISACA glossary and ISO 22340:2024)
(23) ‘Malware’ - Software designed with malicious intent containing features or capabilities that can potentially cause harm directly or indirectly to entities or their information systems.
(24) ‘Penetration Testing’ - A test methodology in which assessors typically working under specific constraints, attempt to circumvent or defeat the security features of an information system.
(25) ‘Phishing’ - A digital form of social engineering that attempts to acquire private or confidential information by pretending to be a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
(26) ‘Privileged User’ - A user who, by virtue of function, and / or role, has been allocated powers within an information system, which are significantly greater than those available to the majority of users. (Source: adapted from ISO/IEC 24775-2:2021)
