PNB hikes cybersecurity spend as AI models including Anthropic's Mythos raise risks

BENGALURU/MUMBAI: Punjab National Bank is stepping up investments in cybersecurity and accelerating procurement of technology to guard against rising digital threats including those from advanced AI models, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

The country's third largest state-run lender by market capitalisation has ‌earmarked about ⁠20% ⁠of its technology budget for cybersecurity, or roughly 7 billion to 8 billion rupees ($73.5 million - $84 million) for the current financial year, executive director D Surendran told Reuters in an interview, adding that this allocation is more than 50% higher than the previous year.

"We don't want to compromise on this kind of expenditure," Surendran ​said, adding the bank will increase the ⁠spending further if ‌required.


PNB's move comes amid heightened regulatory focus on risks emerging from advanced AI models including Anthropic's Mythos. Last month India's ⁠finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman met with heads of top banks to gauge preparedness against AI-related cybersecurity risks. India's central bank has also been in talks with global regulators, lenders and government officials to understand the potential risks, Reuters has reported. PNB is also fast-tracking purchases of security tools, including firewalls and other systems to address vulnerabilities, Surendran said.

"We have increased our frequency of audit... now we ‌have made our audit process 24/7 so that the criticality will be identified fast," Surendran said.

PNB SEES SUSTAINED LOAN GROWTH

The New-Delhi based lender, earlier in ⁠the day, posted a more than 14% rise in net profit to 52.25 billion rupees, helped by healthy loan growth and improving asset quality.

Loans grew ​12.7% year-on-year while deposits rose 9.2%. The bank will target 12-13% loan growth in financialyear 2026/27, Surendran said, driven by credit to small and medium-sized enterprises and retail loans, he said. The bank expects deposits to grow around 9-10% for the year.

($1 = 95.2800 Indian rupees)