- Why in news
- On 13 July 2026, MeitY, with CERT-In, CSIRT-Fin and SISA, released the second edition of the Digital Threat Report 2025-26 for India's BFSI and payments sector.
- What it is
- The Digital Threat Report is a sector-specific cyber threat assessment for banking, financial services, insurance and payments. It is produced by MeitY, CERT-In and CSIRT-Fin with the private firm SISA. It uses forensic and incident response data to guide financial institutions and regulators.
- Publishers
- The report was released by MeitY with CERT-In, CSIRT-Fin and the cybersecurity firm SISA. It is the second consecutive year of this collaboration.
- Central finding
- Six of the seven predictions in last year's edition have already fully come true. The gap between a threat emerging and being exploited has shrunk to months or weeks.
- AI asymmetry
- The report names AI asymmetry as a defining risk. Low-resource attackers can do at machine speed what once needed specialist teams.
- Anatomy of Cyber Failure
- A 4-Layer Gap Archetype Framework that reconstructs how a breach unfolds, as a chain of compounding weaknesses.
- CERT-In legal basis
- CERT-In is the national nodal agency for cyber incidents, designated under the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008.
- 18-month roadmap
- The report sets out a roadmap moving from foundational controls to continuous capabilities and then resilient security architectures.
Don’t confuse with CERT-In vs CSIRT-Fin: CERT-In is the national nodal agency for all sectors. CSIRT-Fin is a sectoral CSIRT for banking, securities market infrastructure, insurance and pension funds.
Reports and indices: 14 Prelims questions since 2013; they test who publishes a report and what it measures.
Why it matters
- Sector-specific threat intelligence helps banks and insurers prepare for risks to digital payments and public trust.
- Public-private collaboration builds national cyber resilience.
Problems
- Attackers use AI faster than defences and regulation can adapt.
- Modern attacks look like legitimate sessions and payments, so they are hard to detect.
Way forward
- Shift from periodic security checks to continuous risk assessment and information sharing.
- Treat cyber resilience as a shared duty of institutions, regulators and the digital supply chain.
Put in your answer
Shrinking exploit window: Threats now move from emergence to exploitation in months or even weeks, not years.
Breach as a chain: A breach is rarely a single lapse but a chain of compounding weaknesses, which supports systemic risk-based investment.
- 2017Mains GS3 · Q9Discuss cyber attack threats and prevention security framework.
- 2021Mains GS3 · Q10Analyse impact of cross-border cyber attacks; discuss defensive measures.
- 2022Mains GS3 · Q19Elements of cyber security; examine India's National Cyber Security Strategy.
- 2017Prelims Q85Who must legally report cyber security incidents in India?
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Cyber security is a lasting topic, but reports of this kind are rarely asked (14 of 327 Prelims). Candidate should know CERT-In and CSIRT-Fin.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.