Urban Co-operative Banks Cybersecurity, Technology, Risk, Resilience and Assurance Framework

RBI/DoS/2026-27/437
DoS.CO.CSITEG.31/31.01.015/2026-27
July 31, 2026

Reserve Bank of India (Urban Co-operative Banks – Cybersecurity, Technology: Risk, Resilience and Assurance Framework) Directions, 2026

Table of Contents

Chapter I - Preliminary
A. Short Title and Commencement
B. Applicability
C. Definitions
Chapter II - Role of the Board
A. Board Approved Policies
B. Committees of the Board
Chapter III - Level I Baseline Cybersecurity and Resilience Requirements
A. Self-Assessment
B. Cybersecurity Policy
C. Information Technology Architecture
D. Cyber Crisis Management Plan
E. Role of the Board of Directors and Senior Management
F. Inventory Management of Information Assets
G. Protection of Customer / Payment Information
H. Cryptographic Controls
I. Preventing Access of Unauthorised Software
J. Environmental Controls
K. Network Management and Security
L. Secure Configuration
M. Anti-virus
N. Change and Patch Management
O. User Access Control / Management
P. Secure Mail and Messaging Systems
Q. Removable Media
R. User / Employee / Management / Board Awareness
S. Customer Education and Awareness
T. Backup and Restoration
U. Vendor / Outsourcing Risk Management
V. Cyber Incident Response and Recovery Management
W. Deployment of New Application / System
X. Information Systems Audit
Chapter IV – Level II Baseline Cybersecurity and Resilience Requirements
A. Information Technology Resource Planning
B. Chief Information Security Officer or Equivalent Official
C. Network Management and Security
D. Secure Configuration
E. Application Security Life Cycle
F. Change and Patch Management
G. Periodic Testing
H. User Access Control / Management
I. Authentication Framework for Customers
J. Anti-Phishing
K. Data Leak Prevention Strategy
L. Database Integrity
M. Audit Logs
N. Incident Response and Management
Chapter V - Level III Baseline Cybersecurity and Resilience Requirements
A. Network Management and Security
B. Secure Configuration
C. Application Security Life Cycle
D. User Access Control
E. Advanced Real-time Threat Defence and Management
F. Maintenance, Monitoring, and Analysis of Audit Logs
G. Incident Response and Management
H. User / Employee / Management Awareness
I. Risk - based Transaction Monitoring System
Chapter VI - Level IV Baseline Cybersecurity and Resilience Requirements
A. Cyber Security Operations Centre
B. Participation in Cyber Drills
C. Incident Response and Management
D. Metrics
E. Forensics
F. Information Technology Strategy and Policy
G. Information Technology and Information Systems Governance Framework
Chapter VII - Repeal and Other Provisions
A. Repeal and Saving
B. Application of Other Laws Not barred
C. Interpretations

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 27 and Section 35-A read with Section 56 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.

Chapter I - Preliminary

A. Short Title and Commencement

1. These Directions shall be called the Reserve Bank of India (Urban Co-operative Banks – Cybersecurity, Technology: Risk, Resilience and Assurance Framework) Directions, 2026.

2. These Directions shall come into force with immediate effect.

B. Applicability

3. These Directions shall be applicable to Urban Co-operative Banks, hereinafter collectively referred to as 'UCBs' and individually as 'UCB'.

For the purpose of these Directions, ‘urban co-operative banks’ means Primary Co-operative Banks as defined under Section 5(ccv) read with Section 56 of Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

4. For the purpose of these Directions, a UCB is categorised into one of the four levels based on its digital depth and interconnectedness to the payment systems landscape. Depending on the UCB category, the applicability of Chapter II to Chapter VI of these Directions is as given below:

C. Definitions

5. The following definitions are sourced from FSB Cyber Lexicon unless explicitly mentioned otherwise. In these Directions, unless the context states otherwise, the terms herein shall bear the meanings assigned to them below:

• (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) ‘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)
• (7) ‘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.
• (8) ‘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.
• (9) ‘Cyber Threat’ - A circumstance with the potential to exploit one or more vulnerabilities that adversely affects cybersecurity.
• (10) ‘Cyber-attack’ - Malicious attempt(s) to exploit vulnerabilities through the cyber medium to damage, disrupt or gain unauthorised access to assets.
• (11) ‘De-militarised Zone or DMZ’ - A perimeter network segment that is logically between internal and external networks.
  (Source: NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 2)
• (12) ‘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)
• (13) ‘Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)’ - A denial of service that is carried out using numerous sources simultaneously.
• (14) ‘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: adapted from ISACA glossary and ISO 22340:2024)
• (15) ‘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)
• (16) ‘Information Systems (IS)’ - Set of applications, services, information technology assets or other information-handling components, which includes the operating environment and networks.
• (17) ‘Integrity’ - Property of accuracy and completeness.
• (18) ‘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)
• (19) ‘IT Risk’ - The business risk associated with the use, ownership, operation, involvement, influence, and adoption of IT within an enterprise.
  (Source: ISACA glossary)
• (20) ‘Malware’ - Software designed with malicious intent containing features or capabilities that can potentially cause harm directly or indirectly to entities or their information systems.
• (21) ‘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.
• (22) ‘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.
• (23) ‘Ransomware’ - Malware that is used to commit extortion by impairing the use of an information system or its information until a ransom demand is satisfied.
• (24) ‘Recovery Time Objective’ - The overall length of time an information system’s components can be in the recovery phase before negatively impacting the organisation’s mission or mission / business processes.
  (Source: NIST glossary)
• (25) ‘Social Engineering’ - A general term for trying to deceive people into revealing information or performing certain actions.
• (26) ‘Vulnerability’ - A weakness, susceptibility or flaw of an asset or control that can be exploited by one or more threats.
• (27) ‘Vulnerability Assessment (VA)’ - Systematic examination of an information system or product to determine the adequacy of security measures, identify security deficiencies, provide data from which to predict the effectiveness of proposed security measures and confirm the adequacy of such measures after implementation.

6. All other expressions unless defined herein shall have the same meaning as have been assigned to them under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Companies Act, 2013 or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereto or other regulations issued by RBI or the Glossary of Terms published by RBI or as used in commercial parlance, as the case may be.