India is one of the most cyber-attacked nations. Here’s how AI adds another layer to the threat

India ranks among the nations most frequently targeted by cyber attacks. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is exacerbating these threats, accelerating their speed, scale, and complexity across the cyber kill chain. This includes automated vulnerability identification, AI-generated deepfakes, and AI-enabled social engineering techniques designed to manipulate individuals into carrying out harmful actions.

In addition, AI has developed the capacity to act as an autonomous agent, capable of identifying, planning, adapting, and executing offensive cyber operations. While AI capabilities are concentrated in a few countries, this disparity raises concerns for India: how prepared is the nation to counter AI-enabled cyber threats, and what measures should be taken to develop the necessary AI capabilities to secure its cyberspace?

AI has significantly transformed the landscape of cybersecurity, but it has also intensified the existing imbalances in the global AI ecosystem. The integration of AI in cybersecurity enables real-time threat detection, automated responses, and large-scale data analysis, surpassing the effectiveness of traditional methods. However, India's indigenous AI ecosystem is lagging behind the US and China in terms of foundational models, GPU technology, chip design, and large-scale data center infrastructure.

Consequently, the nation remains heavily reliant on advanced countries for its AI development. Despite recognizing the gravity of these challenges, India has taken some steps to address AI-enabled cyber threats. For instance, agencies like CERT-In have implemented AI-driven threat detection, cyber resilience measures, trusted AI frameworks, and citizen-centric malware mitigation tactics.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is also exploring a consent-based framework for synthetically generated content, curbing agentic AI autonomy, and establishing clearer liability frameworks for AI models.