In a recent occurrence that left everyone stunned, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) received an email bomb threat, in Russian. This led to an instant reaction from the authorities of the Mumbai Police where a case was reported and further investigation started. The email, which was said to have been sent to the RBI official website, has sparked a lot of concerns over the security of one of Indiaโs core financial institutions.
Details of the Threat
The email, which was typed entirely in Russian, allegedly contained a clear threat to detonate the bank. This alarming message has received a lot of attention due to the sensitivity of the target. This alarming message has received a lot of attention due to the sensitivity of the target. The Reserve Bank of India is an apex monetary authority established in Mumbai and is the supervising institution of the Indian banking system.
Police Action
Soon after the incident the Mumbai Police with the coordination of the DCP Zone 1 registered an FIR at the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg (MRA Marg) police station. It has been reported that a case has been filed against unknown persons and the technical teams are working to trace the source of the email. The officials have said that they are also looking into the contents of the email and investigating its sender to confirm if the threat came from India or not.
Security Measures and Responses
The incident took place within days of a similar wave of bomb threats that affected several schools in New Delhi. In those cases, threatening emails demanded ransoms and led to serious disturbances as police and fire brigades performed extensive investigations. In those cases, nothing unusual was captured in terms of prohibited items; however, several threats have been confirmed, raising alarms.
Due to the nature of this threat, security within the RBI central office and all affiliated offices has been upped. The RBI has also hired cybersecurity experts who assess vulnerabilities in RBIโs digital systems. Further, the police and other intelligence agencies had been alerted to investigate any other connection of the said occurrence to international or local terror outfits.
Next Steps
As investigations continue more information concerning the culprits and their reasons will most probably be disclosed. However, this event remains a clear indication of the continued vulnerability of critical infrastructure and cyber threats. This case has again revealed the need to have synergy between the police, intelligence, and cybersecurity professionals for national security.
