Cyber Risk Assessment and Measurement in UCBs – A Model Based approach

Urban cooperative banks (UCBs) in India have entered in the race for offering digital banking services by embracing technology, to keep pace with their competitors and to meet the ever-increasing expectations of their customers. However, with greater reliance on technology, they have become vulnerable to cyber incidents and threats. UCBs have limitations owing to their lack of technical skills and low investment in cyber security infrastructure. They primarily cater to the smaller customers in urban and semi-urban areas. With increasing cyber incidents dotting the financial landscape, there is an urgent need to ascertain the status of cyber security preparedness in UCBs, the main objective of the researcher’s study. The study involves a questionnaire created by the researcher to gauge their present status. The questionnaire is based on Cyber Security controls prescribed by RBI for UCBs and has the potential of being used by the UCBs for their self-assessment as to where they stand. Responses to the questions result in automatic risk scoring and rating of the banks based on the Automated Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (ACAT) developed by the US regulators viz. FFIEC and FSSCC. The questionnaire cum rating model thus combines the controls based on RBI guidelines contained in its Cyber Security Framework and the scoring cum rating model of the US regulators. The primary research involved in the study was undertaken through the Delphi technique. The questionnaire was circulated to domain experts for validation of the model and for getting feedback for questions relating to cyber security in UCB