In a notification issued on June 16, 2022, the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has declared IT Resources of HDFC bank, ICICI Bank, and NPCI as critical information (CII).
According to Information Technology Act of 2000, Critical Information Infrastructure is a computer resource. Incapacitation or destruction of such resource have debilitating impact on national security, public Health, economy, or public safety.
Under the IT Act 2000, the Union Government has the power to declare any data, IT Network, Database, or communications infrastructure as Critical Information Infrastructure, in order to protect that digital asset. In case, any person who secures access or tries to secure access to protected system, can be put behind the bars for up to 10 years.
In India, CIIs are protected through a nodal agency National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC). NCIIPC was created in January 2014. It is the nodal agency to take allmeasures for protecting CIIs.