Mastercard and CERT-In Unite to Fortify India's Financial Sector Cybersecurity

New Alliance to Bolster Cyber Defense, Enhance Threat Intelligence Sharing, and Build Capacity in Financial Sector

In a significant move to strengthen cybersecurity within India's financial sector, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has partnered with Mastercard. The two entities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at fostering cooperation and information sharing in the realm of cybersecurity.

CERT-In, India's nodal cybersecurity agency operating under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has been designated as the national authority for incident response under Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000. This collaboration with Mastercard marks a pivotal step in enhancing the country's cyber defenses, particularly within the financial sector.

Under the MoU, CERT-In and Mastercard will leverage their combined expertise to improve cybersecurity incident response, build capacity, share cyber threat intelligence specific to the financial sector, and conduct advanced malware analysis. The partnership will also see both organizations holding training programs and workshops to bolster cyber capacity building, discuss the latest market trends, and share best practices for enhancing the cybersecurity of financial sector organizations.

The collaboration promises to facilitate the sharing of relevant cyber threat trends, technical information, threat intelligence, and vulnerability reports. This exchange is expected to significantly strengthen the financial sector's information security posture in India.

The alliance between CERT-In and Mastercard is poised to be a transformative force in safeguarding India's financial sector against evolving cyber threats, ensuring robust protection for digital transactions and financial data.