As organizations race toward digital transformation, security leaders warn that traditional defenses are no longer enough.
India’s digital economy is expanding at breakneck speed, but a critical vulnerability is emerging: the security infrastructure isn’t keeping pace with innovation. As the nation observes Cybersecurity Awareness Month under the theme “Cyber Jagrit Bharat” (Cyber Safe India), industry leaders are sounding the alarm about a fundamental shift in how organizations must approach digital defense.
The numbers tell a sobering story. In 2024 alone, India recorded 369.01 million malware detections across 8.44 million endpoints—averaging 702 detections per minute, according to the India Cyber Threat Report 2025. Yet, despite this escalating threat landscape, most organizations remain unprepared for what’s to come next.
The AI Security Gap
This gap may be more pronounced than in the deployment of artificial intelligence. While an estimated 80% of Indian organizations are developing autonomous AI agents, only 10% have a mature security strategy to manage them, according to Shakil Khan, Regional Vice President and Country Manager at Okta. “Identity is the first and most reliable line of defense in the evolving landscape,” Khan explains, emphasizing the need for secure access across every user, device, and application.
The challenge extends beyond deployment. AI has become a double-edged sword in cybersecurity, simultaneously empowering both defenders and attackers. “AI brings scale and speed to both defense and attack,” notes Attila Torok, Chief Information Security Officer at GoTo. While organizations utilize AI to detect anomalies and automate responses, adversaries are leveraging the same technology to craft deepfakes, launch targeted phishing campaigns, and exploit vulnerabilities with unprecedented sophistication.
Social Engineering: The Achilles’ Heel
The human element remains the weakest link in cybersecurity. Balaji Rao, Area Vice President, India & SAARC, at Commvault, identifies social engineering as “the Achilles’ heel of every organization’s cybersecurity.” With AI enabling cybercriminals to alter voices, accents, and languages in real-time, detecting malicious intent has become exponentially harder. Compounding this challenge, many employees receive minimal cybersecurity training, leaving them unable to identify sophisticated threats.
“Organizations can no longer rely solely on prevention; they must ensure rapid recovery with minimal downtime,” Rao emphasizes, pointing to the inadequacy of traditional backups as cybercriminals increasingly infiltrate them.
Beyond Perimeter Defense
The old security model—protecting a defined perimeter—has become obsolete in today’s fragmented work environment. “Perimeter defenses don’t cut it anymore,” Torok states bluntly. Instead, organizations must invest in zero-trust architectures and embed security into every layer, from identity management to endpoint protection.
As India’s technology sector races toward a $300 billion revenue milestone by FY 2026, according to Rizwan Patel, Global Head Cloud, Infosec and Emerging Technologies at Altimetrik, the pressure to strengthen security intelligence has intensified. “Cybersecurity must be treated as a continuous business enabler rather than a compliance exercise,” Patel argues, advocating for AI-first engineering models that integrate governance and threat intelligence into enterprise transformation.
Building Operational Resilience
The path forward requires more than technology investments. “A well-trained workforce, equipped with the right tools and empowered to act, is the strongest defense we have,” Torok emphasizes. Security awareness must evolve into operational readiness, transforming knowledge into actionable steps that drive effective outcomes.
Jayesh Shah, Director at Orient Technologies, underscores the importance of proactive measures: “Regular vulnerability assessment is essential to identify, prioritize, and address risks before they escalate into threats.”
The consensus among security leaders is clear: true cyber resilience lies not only in preventing breaches but in the ability to recover quickly and continue operations seamlessly. As India continues its digital transformation journey, cybersecurity can no longer be an afterthought—it must become a competitive differentiator and a foundation for sustained growth in the nation’s digital economy.
