RBI Cyber Security Framework Audit
End-to-end RBI CSF audit — control assessment, SAR drafting, inspector defence.
Full RBI Cyber Security Framework audit for scheduled commercial banks, cooperative banks, NBFCs, payment aggregators, prepaid wallets and authorised payment system operators. Covers the 2016 framework, IT Examination 2020 and 2024 master directions on IT governance.
- RBI Cyber Security Framework for Banks (June 2016)
- RBI Master Direction on IT Governance, Risk, Controls and Assurance Practices (2023)
- RBI Master Direction on Outsourcing of IT Services (2023)
- RBI Cooperative Bank IT Framework (4-tier)
- Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP)
- RBI Digital Lending Guidelines (Sept 2022)
What is RBI Cyber Security Framework compliance?
The RBI Cyber Security Framework mandates baseline and graded security controls for banks, NBFCs, and cooperative banks — covering governance, VAPT, SOC, and incident reporting. Macksofy audits and remediates against the framework, delivering the System Audit Report and evidence RBI inspectors expect, for BFSI across India.
RBI CSF is leverage, not paperwork.
RBI penalties for cyber-non-compliance crossed ₹100 crore across 2023–25. Inspections have moved from paper review to live evidence walks. Macksofy's CERT-In empanelled team conducts RBI CSF audits the way RBI inspectors will read them — control statements, technical evidence, and SAR-format submission packs that don't trigger follow-up queries.
- Scheduled Commercial Banks · Public, Private, Foreign
- Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) — graded 4-tier framework
- NBFC-Upper / Middle / Base layer per Scale-Based Regulation
- Payment Aggregators + Payment Gateways (RBI authorisation)
- Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers
- White Label ATM operators · ATM service providers
Aligned to the regulations that matter.
How we run a RBI CSF engagement.
Interactive walkthrough — every phase clickable, every activity documented, every artefact regulator-ready.
1 · Scoping + asset register
- 01Tier classification (UCB tiers / NBFC layers)
- 02Critical Information Infrastructure scoping
- 03CISO + Board IT Strategy Committee engagement
What your RBI CSF engagement puts on the table.
- Macksofy CERT-In empanelment letter
- RBI System Audit Report (SAR) in prescribed format
- Findings register mapped to CSF Annex-1 / Annex-2
- Cyber Crisis Management Plan template (where missing)
- Free retest within 30 days · regulator-acceptable closure letter
- RBI inspector / IT Examination defence support
Tier-2 UCB annual CSF audit + SAR
Outcome: RBI inspection cleared with zero major findings; Tier-3 controls validated 8 months ahead of mandate
IT governance + cyber resilience audit
Outcome: Board reporting cycle compressed from quarterly to monthly with automated control evidence
The shape of a RBI CSF engagement.
Every number below is grounded in how Macksofy actually runs the engagement — not aspirational marketing copy.
What we actually examine.
Each pillar is a distinct workstream inside the engagement — scoped, evidenced, and signed off independently before the audit pack is assembled.
- Governance & oversight3 pts
- Baseline cyber-security controls3 pts
- Advanced threat-defence3 pts
- Operational resilience3 pts
- Customer-data protection3 pts
- RBI-format submission pack3 pts
Board, IT-Strategy and Risk-Committee accountability validated against RBI expectations.
- Board-approved cyber-security policy review
- CISO charter + reporting lines
- Cyber-risk metrics presented at board level
All 21 baseline RBI CSF controls walked end-to-end with technical evidence.
- Network segmentation + secure architecture
- Patch-management + vulnerability lifecycle
- Privileged-access management & MFA
RBI's expectation for systemically-important banks — moving beyond baseline.
- EDR + 24×7 SOC capability evidence
- Threat-intel ingestion & ATT&CK coverage
- Anti-phishing + DMARC enforcement
Withstand and recover from a major cyber event without breaching customer SLAs.
- BCP / DR with declared RTO + RPO
- Cyber-incident drill (table-top + technical)
- Crisis-communications playbook
What RBI inspectors care about most: where customer data lives and how it moves.
- Data localisation evidence (RBI Apr 2018)
- Encryption-at-rest and in-transit posture
- Outsourcing & cloud due-diligence pack
Artefacts assembled exactly the way RBI inspections consume them.
- Control-statement to evidence map
- SAR-compatible findings register
- Inspector Q&A walk-through deck
From kick-off to regulator-ready report.
The horizontal flow below shows the typical week-by-week shape of a RBI CSF engagement. Click any station for detail in the methodology section above.
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“We've worked with three Big 4 firms before Macksofy. None found what their team did in our payments stack. The most actionable report we've received in a decade.”
“The CHFI training Macksofy delivered for our cyber cell raised investigation quality measurably. Practical, India-context-aware, and respectful of our operational realities.”
“Came in with zero security background. 5 weeks later I was running Burp Suite and Metasploit confidently. Cleared CEH on the first attempt.”
RBI CSF — what compliance leads ask before signing.
RBI Digital Lending Guidelines Audit
FLDG, DLG, LSP and DLA audit — disbursement-to-collection trail RBI inspectors actually read.
Learn moreRBI IT Governance Master Direction Audit
Board IT Strategy Committee to operator-level evidence — audited the way RBI inspectors read it.
Learn moreCERT-In Empanelled Audit
The audit your regulator will accept on the first read.
Learn moreRBI CSF evidence starts with hands-on testing.
A clean RBI CSF report rests on real technical assurance. These Macksofy assessments generate the vulnerability, penetration and control-effectiveness evidence your auditor expects to see.
Penetration Testing
Find what attackers will. Before they do.
Explore serviceVulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT)
VAPT done properly — not a scan with a cover page.
Explore serviceWeb Application Security Testing
Test web apps the way attackers (and bug bounty hunters) do.
Explore serviceField notes from RBI CSF engagements.
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RBI Cyber Security Framework + CERT-In 6-hour reporting aligned ransomware readiness checklist for Indian banks, NBFCs and insurers — prevention, detection, response, recovery.
Read articleMacksofy delivers this work to the following standards and regulator requirements. Definitions and controls are sourced from the issuing bodies below.
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- CERT-In Empanelled
- EC-Council ATC · CompTIA Authorized
- 20,000+ professionals trained
- India + UAE engagements