Advisory for SEBI Regulated Entities (REs) regarding Cybersecurity best practices

परिपत्र / CIRCULAR सेबी/एच ओ/आईटीडी/आईटीडी_वीएपीटी/पी/सीआईआर/2023/032 SEBI/HO/ITD/ITD_VAPT/P/CIR/2023/032 February 22, 2023 प्रति / To, सभी स्टॉक एक्सचेंज / All Stock Exchanges सभी समाशोधन तनगम (क्लीयरिगिं कािपोिेशन) / All Clearing Corporations सभी तनक्षेपागाि (डिपॉज़िटिी) / All Depositories सभी स्टॉक दलाल - एक्सचेंजों के जरिए / All Stock Brokers through Exchanges सभी तनक्षेपागाि सहभागी (डिपॉज़िटिी पार्टिससपेंट) - तनक्षेपागािों (डिपॉज़िटिी) के जरिए All Depository Participants through Depositories सभी म्यचू ुअल फिंि / आजस्ि प्रबधिं किंपतनयााँ (असटे मनै ेजमेंट किंपनी) / न्यासी (ट्रस्टी) किंपतनया ाँ / म्यचू ुअल फिंिों के न्यासी मििं ल / एएमएफआई / All Mutual Funds / Asset Management Companies / Trustee Companies / Boards of Trustees of Mutual Funds / Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) सभी केवाईसी िजजस्ट्रीकिण एजेंससयााँ / All KYC Registration Agencies सभी अर्हिि तनगमि िजजस्ट्राि (िजजस्ट्राि टू एन इश्य)ू / शये ि अििं िण असभकिा ि (शये ि ट्रािंसफि एजेंट) All Qualified Registrars to an Issue / Share Transfer Agents महोदय / महोदया, Dear Sir / Madam, ववषयः साइबि सुिक्षा हेिु बहेििीन पद्धतियााँ अपनाए जाने के सबिंधिं में सेबी द्वािा ववतनयसमि (िेग्यूलेटेि) एिंर्टर्टयों के सलए एिवाइ़ििी Sub: Advisory for SEBI Regulated Entities (REs) regarding Cybersecurity best practices 1. यह देखने में आया है कि वित्तीय क्षेत्र िे 1. Financial sector organizations, stock सगं ठन, स्टॉि एक्सचेंज, ननक्षेपागार exchanges, depositories, mutual (डिपॉज़िटरी), म्यचू ुअल फंि और वित्तीय क्षेत्र funds and other financial entities िी अन्य एंटटटटया ाँ साइबर हमलों िी have been experiencing cyber समस्याओ ं से जूझ रही ह ैं और साथ ही इन incidents which are rapidly growing हमलों िी तादाद तजे ी स े बढ़ रही है और in frequency and sophistication. 1ज़जनिे नए-नए हथिंि े अपनाए जा रहे हैं । Considering the interconnectedness चूंकि वित्तीय एंटटटटयों िा िामिाज किसी न and interdependency of the financial किसी रूप में या तो एि दसू रे से जुड़ा हुआ है entities to carry out their functions, या कफर एि दसू रे पर ननर्रभ रहता है, यही the cyber risk of any given entity is िजह है कि साइबर हमलों िा खतरा no longer limited to the entity’s आखखरिार किसी एि एटं टटी िे ससस्टम owned or controlled systems, (ज़जनमें ि े ससस्टम र्ी शासमल हैं ज़जन पर networks and assets उसिा ननयत्रं ण हो), नेटििभ आटद पर ही नही ं मिं राता, बज़कि इसिा असर तो दसू री एंटटटटयों िे ससस्टम, नेटििभ आटद पर र्ी पड़ता है । 2. यही नहीं, बज़कि साइबर हमले िरने िाले ज़जस 2. Further, given the sophistication and तरह परू ी साठाँ गााँठ िरिे साइबर हमले िरने persistence of the threat with a high िे सलए नए-नए हथिंि े अपनात े जा रहे हैं, level of coordination among threat उसिे चलत े अब हमें यह मानना ही होगा कि actors, it is important to recognize जोखखम िो िम िरने (ररस्ि मनै ेजमेंट) िे that many traditional approaches to सलए और सचं ालन (गिनसें ) िो सनु नज़चचत risk management and governance िरने िे सलए अब ति जो-जो तौर-तरीिे that worked in the past may not be अपनाए जात े थे, िे आज िे माहौल में अब comprehensive or agile enough to शायद इतने िारगर नहीं रहे कि नए-नए पतैं रे address the rapid changes in the अपनािर आज किए जा रहे साइबर हमलों से threat environment and the pace of ननपट पाएाँ और न ही इतने िारगर रहे हैं कि technological change that is सािजभ ननि क्षेत्र िी तथा ननजी क्षेत्र िी redefining public and private िंपननयों में तिनीि िी टदशा में हो रहे enterprise. बदलािों िे साथ िदम से िदम समलािर चल पाएाँ । 3. इससलए, विननयसमत एंटटटटयों िे सलए यह 3. Thus, an efficient and effective जरूरी है कि िे साइबर हमलों पर न िेिल response to and recovery from a िारगर ढंग से िाब ू पाएाँ, बज़कि ससस्टम िो cyber-incident by REs are essential सामान्य ज़स्थनत में र्ी लाए,ाँ ताकि ऐस े हमलों to limit any related financial stability िी िजह से वित्तीय ज़स्थरता पर आाँच न आए। risks. For ensuring the same, 2यही सनु नज़चचत िरने िे सलए, ‘फाइनेंसशयल Financial Computer Security Incident िंप्यटू र ससक्यरू रटी इंससिेंट ररस्पॉन्स टीम’ न े Response Team (CSIRT-Fin) has सेबी िे पास प्रस्ततु िी गई अपनी ररपोटभ में provided important recommendations अपने अहम सझु ाि टदए ह ैं । इस प्रिार जो in its report sent to SEBI. The र्ी सझु ाि लाग ू ह,ैं िे इस पररपत्र (सिुभलर) िे applicable recommendations, in the साथ “सलं ग्नि-ि” में एििाइिरी िे रूप में form of an advisory, are enclosed at सलं ग्न हैं । Annexure-A of this circular. 4. इस एििाइिरी िे साथ-साथ सेबी िे लाग ू 4. This advisory should be read in पररपत्रों (ज़जनमें साइबर सरु क्षा तथा साइबर conjunction with the applicable SEBI आघात सहन े सबं धं ी ढाचाँ ा, िावषिभ ससस्टम circulars (including but not limited to ऑडिट सबं धं ी ढााँचा, आटद विषयों पर जारी Cybersecurity and Cyber Resilience किए गए पररपत्र र्ी शासमल हैं) और उसिे framework, Annual System Audit बाद सेबी द्िारा समय-समय पर दी जाने िाली framework, etc.) and subsequent सचू नाओं आटद (अपिटे ) पर र्ी अिचय गौर updates issued by SEBI from time to किया जाए । time. 5. विननयसमत (रेग्यलू ेटेि) एंटटटटया ाँ अपनी साइबर 5. The compliance of the advisory shall सरु क्षा िी ऑडिट ररपोटभ (यह ऑडिट साइबर be provided by the REs along with सरु क्षा और साइबर आघात सहने िे सबं धं में their cybersecurity audit report सेबी द्िारा ननधाभररत किए गए ढााँचे िे अनसु ार (conducted as per the applicable किया गया हो) िे साथ इस एििाइिरी िा SEBI Cybersecurity and Cyber पालन किए जाने िे सबं धं में र्ी ररपोटभ प्रस्ततु Resilience framework). The िरेंगी । यह ररपोटभ ररपोटटिंग िी मौजूदा compliance shall be submitted as per व्यिस्था िे अनसु ार प्रस्ततु िी जाएगी और the existing reporting mechanism and यह ररपोटभ साइबर सरु क्षा िी ऑडिट ररपोटभ frequency of the respective प्रस्ततु िरत े समय प्रस्ततु िी जाएगी । cybersecurity audit. 6. इस पररपत्र िे साथ सलं ग्न एििाइिरी तरु ंत 6. The advisory annexed with this प्रर्ाि से लाग ू होगी । circular shall be effective with immediate effect. 37. यह पररपत्र (सिुभलर) प्रनतर्नू तयों (ससक्यरू रटीि) 7. This circular is issued in exercise of में ननिेश िरने िाले ननिेशिों िे टहतों िा powers conferred under Section 11 सरं क्षण िरन,े प्रनतर्नू त बाजार (ससक्यरू रटीि (1) of the Securities and Exchange मािेट) िे वििास िो बढ़ािा देने तथा उसे Board of India Act, 1992, to protect विननयसमत (रेग्यलू ेट) िरने िी टदशा में, the interests of investors in securities र्ारतीय प्रनतर्नू त और विननमय बोि भ and to promote the development of, अधधननयम, 1992 िी धारा 11(1) िे तहत and to regulate the securities market. प्रदान िी गई शज़क्तयों िा प्रयोग िरत े हुए जारी किया जा रहा है । भवदीय / Yours Faithfully, श्वेिा बनजी Shweta Banerjee उप महाप्रबिंधक Deputy General Manager दिू भाष / Phone: 022-26449509 ईमेल / Email: shwetas@sebi.gov.in 4Annexure-A In view of the increasing cybersecurity threat to the securities market, SEBI Regulated Entities (REs) are advised to implement the following practices as recommended by CSIRT-Fin: 1. Roles and Responsibilities of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)/ Designated Officer: REs are advised to define roles and responsibilities of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and other senior personnel. Reporting and compliance requirements shall be clearly specified in the security policy. 2. Measures against Phishing attacks/ websites: i. The REs need to proactively monitor the cyberspace to identify phishing websites w.r.t. to REs domain and report the same to CSIRT-Fin/CERT-In for taking appropriate action. ii. Majority of the infections are primarily introduced via phishing emails, malicious adverts on websites, and third-party apps and programs. Hence, thoughtfully designed security awareness campaigns that stress the avoidance of clicking on links and attachments in email, can establish an essential pillar of defense. Additionally, the advisories issued by CERT-In/ CSIRT-Fin may be referred for assistance in conducting exercises for public awareness. 3. Patch Management and Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT): i. All operating systems and applications should be updated with the latest patches on a regular basis. As an interim measure for zero-day vulnerabilities and where patches are not available, virtual patching can be considered for protecting systems and networks. This measure hinders cybercriminals from gaining access to any system through vulnerabilities in end-of-support and end-of-life applications and software. Patches should be sourced only from the authorized sites of the OEM. ii. Security audit / Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) of the application should be conducted at regular basis and in accordance with the Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience circulars of SEBI issued from time to time. 5The observation/ gaps of VAPT/Security Audit should be resolved as per the timelines prescribed by SEBI. 4. Measures for Data Protection and Data breach: i. REs are advised to prepare detailed incident response plan. ii. Enforce effective data protection, backup, and recovery measures. iii. Encryption of the data at rest should be implemented to prevent the attacker from accessing the unencrypted data. iv. Identify and classify sensitive and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data and apply measures for encrypting such data in transit and at rest. v. Deploy data leakage prevention (DLP) solutions / processes. 5. Log retention: Strong log retention policy should be implemented as per extant SEBI regulations and required by CERT-In and IT Act 2000. REs are advised to audit that all logs are being collected. Monitoring of all logs of events and incidents to identify unusual patterns and behaviours should be done. 6. Password Policy/ Authentication Mechanisms: i. Strong password policy should be implemented. The policy should include a clause of periodic review of accounts of ex-employees Passwords should not be reused across multiple accounts or list of passwords should not be stored on the system. ii. Enable multi factor authentication (MFA) for all users that connect using online/internet facility and also particularly for virtual private networks, webmail and accounts that access critical systems. iii. Maker and Checker framework should be implemented in strict manner and MFA should be enabled for all user accounts, especially for user accounts accessing critical applications. 7. Privilege Management: i. Maker-Checker framework should be implemented for modifying the user's right in internal applications. ii. For mitigating the insider threat problem, 'least privilege' approach to provide security for both on-and off-premises resources (i.e., zero-trust models) should 6be implemented. Zero Trust is rooted in the principle of "trust nothing, verify everything." This security model requires strict identity verification for each and every resource and device attempting to get access to any information on a private network, regardless of where they are situated, within or outside of a network perimeter. 8. Cybersecurity Controls: i. Deploy web and email filters on the network. Configure these devices to scan for known bad domains, sources, and addresses, block these before receiving and downloading messages. Scan all emails, attachments, and downloads both on the host and at the mail gateway with a reputable antivirus solution. ii. Block the malicious domains/IPs after diligently verifying them without impacting the operations. CSIRT-Fin/CERT-In advisories which are published periodically should be referred for latest malicious domains/IPs, C&C DNS and links. iii. Restrict execution of "powershell" and "wscript" in enterprise environment, if not required. Ensure installation and use of the latest version of PowerShell, with enhanced logging enabled, script block logging and transcription enabled. Send the associated logs to a centralized log repository for monitoring and analysis. iv. Utilize host based firewall to prevent Remote Procedure Call (RPC) and Server Message Block (SMB) communication among endpoints whenever possible. This limits lateral movement as well as other attack activities. v. Practice of whitelisting of ports based on business usage at Firewall level should be implemented rather than blacklisting of certain ports. Traffic on all other ports which have not been whitelisted should be blocked by default. 9. Security of Cloud Services: i. Check public accessibility of all cloud instances in use. Make sure that no server/bucket is inadvertently leaking data due to inappropriate configurations. ii. Ensure proper security of cloud access tokens. The tokens should not be exposed publicly in website source code, any configuration files etc. iii. Implement appropriate security measures for testing, staging and backup environments hosted on cloud. Ensure that production environment is kept properly segregated from these. Disable/remove older or testing environments if their usage is no longer required. 7iv. Consider employing hybrid data security tools that focus on operating in a shared responsibility model for cloud-based environments. 10. Implementation of CERT-In/ CSIRT-Fin Advisories: The advisories issued by CERT-In should be implemented in letter and spirit by the regulated entities. Additionally, the advisories should be implemented promptly as and when received. 11. Concentration Risk on Outsourced Agencies: i. It has been observed that single third party vendors are providing services to multiple REs, which creates concentration risk. Here, such third parties though being small non-financial organizations, if any cyber-attack, happens at such organizations, the same could have systemic implication due to high concentration risk. ii. Thus, there is a need for identification of such organizations and prescribing specific cyber security controls, including audit of their systems and protocols from independent auditors, to mitigate such concentration risk. iii. Further, REs also need to take into account this concentration risk while outsourcing multiple critical services to the same vendor. 12. Audit and ISO Certification: i. SEBI’s instructions on external audit of REs by independent auditors empaneled by CERT-In should be complied with in letter and spirit. ii. The REs are also advised to go for ISO certification as the same provides a reasonable assurance on the preparedness of the RE with respect to cybersecurity. iii. Due diligence with respect to audit process and tools used for such audit needs to be undertaken to ensure competence and effectiveness of audits. 8