New Delhi: Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will lead a high-level review meeting on 9 May evening to assess the cybersecurity readiness of India’s financial infrastructure.
The emergency meeting is seen as a response to growing concerns over potential cyber threats targeting the country’s critical digital networks.
Senior officials from public and private sector banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), stock exchanges like NSE and BSE, and the cybersecurity agency CERT-In are expected to participate.
The CERT-In has reportedly intensified its coordination with vital sectors to strengthen their cyber defences, considering the worsening situation with Pakistan since the Pahalgam attack.
The heightened alert follows Pakistan’s attacks across India’s western border and multiple ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir on the night of 8 May.
The Indian Army said it thwarted the drone attacks and responded decisively to cross-border firing. These escalations occurred just a day after India’s targeted strikes on nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under ‘Operation Sindoor’.
In the aftermath of these military operations, Indian authorities placed critical infrastructure operators, including in the power, telecom and banking sectors, on a state of high vigilance due to a surge in cyber threats. A senior official confirmed that several Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have been detected in recent days, though most were successfully contained.
It was reported that Pakistan is spreading malware that can compromise financial and sensitive data via WhatsApp, email, Facebook and Telegram. One such malware is being distributed as “Dance of Hillary” in the form of documents and video files. Security professionals have already warned that if activated, this virus can harm computers or mobile devices and provide hackers access to private information, such as bank login details.
The online domain has also turned into a battleground. Following the news of India’s retaliatory strikes, misinformation campaigns began circulating widely on social media, especially on platform X (formerly Twitter). In response, the central government invoked emergency legal provisions to block content deemed misleading or harmful to national security narratives.
X, in a public statement, stated that it received official directives from the government to block over 8,000 accounts within India’s jurisdiction, including those belonging to international media and notable users, over concerns of misinformation.
However, it should be noted that cybersecurity experts have warned that hybrid threats, combining cyberattacks and information warfare, are now an integral part of geopolitical conflict.
Vijender Yadav, Co-Founder and CEO of Accops, observed: “These hybrid threats exploit public sentiment and digital exposure, often aiming at critical infrastructure and public-facing platforms.” He noted a constructive shift in India’s approach, with organisations increasingly adopting “identity-centric, context-aware security, underpinned by multi-factor authentication, zero trust access, and real-time monitoring.”
Yadav emphasised that this is not merely an IT concern anymore, but “a national continuity imperative, and India is responding with focus, clarity, and preparedness.”
Dhiraj Udapure, Vice President, Technology and Business Development at SCS Tech, echoed similar concerns, stating: “We are now witnessing a sharp uptick in coordinated cyber intrusions, targeted misinformation and narrative manipulation, all aimed at sowing confusion and undermining public trust.”
He advocated a pivot from passive to active cyber readiness, stressing the importance of real-time threat hunting and infrastructure testing. “Preparedness means more than defence, it demands foresight, speed, and the clarity to lead amid chaos,” he added.
