Cybersecurity in India: Adapting to the Age of AI

India’s digital ascent, from instant payments to smart factories, is rewriting the rules of growth. But sustaining this progress depends on something deeper: the security and resilience of the systems that power it.

In boardrooms across India, leaders are realising that in the age of real-time transactions, cloud-driven services, and AI-powered customer experiences, a data breach can erase years of progress overnight. Cybersecurity has shifted from being a checkbox to becoming an essential enabler of trust and resilience in business.

India’s Digital Boom, and the Risks That Follow

India’s digital economy is booming, making up about 13.42% of India’s GDP currently (2024-25), and is on track to reach 20% by 2029-30.

UPI alone processed more than 16.99 billion transactions in January 2025, and broadband subscribers now stand close to a billion. IT revenues stood at USD 283 billion in FY24–25, e-commerce platforms are surging, and digital public infrastructure like the Aadhaar and DigiLocker touch hundreds of millions of citizens daily.

But as growth accelerates, so do risks. More users, endpoints, and data create a sprawling attack surface. Traditional security models, built for a slower pace of change, are struggling to keep up.

Complexity: The New Enemy of Cybersecurity

Fragmentation is quietly becoming India’s biggest vulnerability. A sprawl of disconnected tools creates silos, slows detection, and introduces blind spots. The challenge is compounded by the shift to multi-cloud environments, the explosion of endpoints from IoT devices, and the speed at which AI is reshaping digital operations. What was once manageable has now become overwhelming, and attackers are quick to exploit these cracks.

The 2025 Fortinet-IDC Report on State of Cybersecurity in Asia-Pacific highlights the growing financial impact of cyber incidents, with one in five breaches costing organisations more than US$500,000 to recover. BFSI saw fraud cases quadruple, while insider threats and regulatory audits continue to expose weaknesses.

“When security tools multiply across silos, complexity becomes the biggest vulnerability,” says Vishak Raman, Vice President of Sales, India, SEA, and ANZ, Fortinet. “You’re not adding protection, you’re adding blind spots.”

AI: A Double-Edged Sword

AI is transforming cybersecurity on both sides of the battlefield. Threat actors are weaponizing it to craft more convincing phishing campaigns, automate credential theft, and generate deepfakes that are indistinguishable from reality. These attacks are faster, smarter, and harder to detect with traditional methods.

But AI is also becoming the defender’s most valuable ally. By analysing millions of logs in real time, AI can surface anomalies invisible to humans and even automate responses before threats escalate.

“AI won’t replace humans in cybersecurity,” Raman explains. “But it can be the co-pilot that handles the speed and scale, freeing teams to focus on decision making, not just dashboards.”

The critical choice for organisations is whether they treat AI as just another bolt-on tool, or embed it within an integrated, platform-led approach that learns, adapts, and acts across the entire digital environment.

Rethinking Security Through Platforms

The future of cybersecurity lies in unification, not fragmentation. Platform-driven security brings together visibility, detection, and response across networks, cloud, endpoints, and applications. This approach tackles real-world problems:

• Too many tools, too little clarity: A single platform consolidates insights, reducing alert fatigue and ensuring threats aren’t lost in the noise.
• Multi-cloud sprawl: Integrated controls provide consistent protection across environments, removing blind spots.
• Speed of attacks: Automated playbooks translate alerts into real-time action, shrinking response times from hours to seconds.
• Scalability: A platform grows with the organisation, securing both legacy systems and new digital initiatives without adding layers of complexity.

This simplification matters. Whether it’s banks combating fraud in real time, manufacturers protecting IoT-enabled plants, or government platforms delivering citizen services, resilience depends on cutting through complexity.

Talent: Building the Human Firewall

Technology alone cannot secure India’s digital future. The country faces a significant shortage of cybersecurity expertise, leaving many organisations without the skilled teams they need to manage today’s threat landscape.

Bridging this gap requires more than hiring. It means equipping existing talent with AI-driven tools that amplify their impact, creating security awareness at every level of the workforce, and treating cybersecurity as a life skill that citizens and employees alike must carry into the digital world.

Trust: The Foundation of India’s Digital Future

Trust is the bedrock of India’s digital economy. Public digital platforms, healthcare records, and financial systems all rely on security that can scale with ambition. Simplifying security through platforms and empowering people with the right skills will determine whether India’s digital growth story is resilient or fragile.

“A cybersecurity platform that reduces complexity doesn’t just save time,” Raman notes. “It empowers people to lead, to innovate, and to trust.”

As India pursues its USD 1 trillion digital economy ambition, the demands of cybersecurity are clear: from point tools to integrated platforms, from reactive insurance to proactive trust, and from manual alert-chasing to AI-driven orchestration. The future belongs to organisations that view cybersecurity not as a barrier, but as the foundation of innovation and resilience.

Note to the Reader: This article has been produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Mint.