- RBI said – AI attacks can become the biggest cyber threat in the next one year
- Concern over low IT investment, advice to banks to modernize security infrastructure
New Delhi. The country’s banking system is standing at the brink of a threat whose face is not visible, but whose blow can shake the entire financial system. This danger is of artificial intelligence (AI) based cyber attacks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clearly warned in its latest Financial Stability Report that AI-driven cyber attacks may emerge as the biggest challenge for the banking and financial sector in the coming year.
The central bank says that criminals are now using the same technology, which the world is considering as the biggest force of the future. According to RBI, AI has completely changed the nature of cyber crime. Whereas earlier it took a long time for hackers to break into a network, now with the help of AI, weaknesses in the banking system can be discovered rapidly. Fraudulent e-mails, messages and calls that defraud customers and bank employees seem more real than ever. This is why traditional cyber security measures are becoming increasingly weak.
The report fears that if the security system is not strengthened in time in accordance with the new technology, there could be disruption in banking services, theft of sensitive financial data and serious impact on digital payment systems. This will not only harm any one bank, but may also affect customer confidence in the entire financial system.
Referring to the global cyber scenario, the report states that the highest number of cyber attacks has been recorded in Russia. After this comes Ukraine and India. Türkiye, Mexico and China are also among the countries where cyber activities are increasing rapidly. It is clear from this that cyber crime is no longer a crime confined to borders, but has become a major issue of global economic security.
RBI also assessed the preparedness of banks. Nearly 98 per cent of the banks surveyed rated their current cyber risk in the ‘very low’ to ‘moderate’ category and most institutions described the risk as controlled. However, the central bank cautioned that relying solely on existing systems would not be sufficient given the changing nature of AI-based attacks.
Another worrying aspect of the report is the expenditure on information technology. In the financial year 2025-26, 81 percent of banks spent less than five percent of their total revenue on IT. Experts believe that when criminals are using cutting-edge AI, limited investment on cyber security may prove costly in the future. RBI has advised banks to adopt AI-based security solutions, conduct regular security audits and red-team testing, strengthen threat intelligence and continuously train employees.
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