Nearly 100 officials from 42 Regional Rural Banks and Rural Cooperative Banks participated in a first-of-its-kind cybersecurity drill held on February 23–24, 2026, at the Bankers Institute of Rural Development (BIRD) in Lucknow. The initiative was jointly organized by BIRD Lucknow, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), and the Department of Supervision at the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). Titled “Building Cyber Resilience in Regional Rural Banks and Rural Cooperative Banks,” the program marked a significant step toward strengthening cyber preparedness across India’s rural financial ecosystem.
The drill was conducted under the guidance of Dr. Nirupam Mehrotra, Director of BIRD Lucknow, and Dr. Sanjay Bahl, Director General of CERT-In. Designed as a structured intervention, the program aimed to enhance institutional readiness against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. NABARD officials indicated that the exercise forms part of a broader roadmap to extend similar cyber resilience initiatives to all rural financial institutions, signaling a push toward standardized security frameworks.
The event featured simulated cyberattack scenarios displayed in real time, including compromised servers, disrupted communications, and frozen digital payment systems. These exercises were intended to replicate real-world crisis conditions and test participants’ incident response coordination, technical troubleshooting, and decision-making under pressure.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Mehrotra emphasized that cybersecurity must move beyond periodic compliance checks toward continuous capacity building and realistic drills. The keynote address by Shri Ashutosh Bahuguna, Scientist and Additional Director at CERT-In, highlighted emerging national cybersecurity priorities and the need to transition from reactive security models to comprehensive resilience frameworks capable of anticipating and recovering from attacks.
Senior CERT-In officials conducted technical sessions on cyber crisis management, defense controls, awareness protocols, and incident response planning. The program combined expert briefings with interactive, scenario-based simulations, allowing participants to address institution-specific challenges and receive actionable guidance.
NABARD supervisory officials also contributed regulatory perspectives, reinforcing the alignment between operational preparedness and governance standards. Organizers described the initiative as a milestone collaborative effort that reflects the urgent need to secure rural banking systems amid rapid digital transformation and expanding exposure to cyber risks.
