The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has taken two new steps to strengthen cybersecurity in India’s securities market.
SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey announced the initiatives on Monday at the SEBI Symposium on Cyber Defence.
The new measures are designed to improve cyber incident reporting, information sharing and coordination among institutions across the financial market.
Two New Cybersecurity Initiatives
SEBI has launched a revamped Incident Reporting Portal and a new Cyber Suraksha Portal.
The upgraded Incident Reporting Portal will make it easier for market participants to report cybersecurity incidents in a more structured, timely and useful manner.
The portal has been aligned with the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) Format for Incident Reporting Exchange (FIRE).
This is aimed at creating more consistency in the way cyber incidents are reported and making information sharing across borders easier.
The second platform, called the Cyber Suraksha Portal, will work as a central information-sharing hub.
It will allow stakeholders to share important cybersecurity information, including vulnerability alerts, cyberattack warnings, policy measures and lessons learned from previous incidents.
Why Are These Platforms Important?
Cyberattacks do not necessarily remain limited to one company.
A cyber incident at one organisation can potentially spread through technology providers, vendors, third-party service providers and other connected institutions.
This means that protecting individual companies is not enough.
The entire financial ecosystem needs to be prepared to identify and respond to cyber threats.
SEBI believes that information sharing can help institutions respond faster.
For example, if one organisation faces a cyberattack, the lessons learned from that incident could help other institutions prevent or handle a similar attack.
Cyber Resilience Is More Than Preventing Attacks
SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said cyber resilience should not be seen as an attempt to make systems completely immune to cyberattacks.
Instead, organisations need to develop the ability to anticipate threats, withstand attacks, respond quickly, recover from disruptions and learn from incidents.
The new platforms are therefore intended to support more than just technology.
Their success will depend on how effectively financial institutions use them to share information, learn from cyber incidents and take timely action.
With financial institutions becoming increasingly interconnected, stronger cooperation and faster information sharing could play an important role in protecting India’s securities market from growing cyber risks.
