Fortinet , the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security,
today announced the findings of a new IDC survey that reveals a sharp escalation in both the
volume and sophistication of cyber threats across India and the Asia Pacific region. The study,
commissioned by Fortinet, highlights how attackers are rapidly adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI)
to scale stealthy, fast-moving attacks—leaving security teams struggling to detect and respond in
time. The results reveal a threat landscape that is not only evolving in complexity but also shifting
toward gaps in visibility, governance, and infrastructure, posing greater challenges to
overstretched cyber teams.
AI Joins the Attacker’s Arsenal — And Most Firms Have Felt It
The rise of AI-enabled cybercrime is no longer theoretical. Nearly 72% of organizations In
India said that they have encountered AI-powered cyber threats in the past year. These
threats are scaling fast, with a 2X increase reported by 70% and a 3X increase by 12% of
organizations
This new class of AI-powered threats are harder to detect and often exploit weaknesses
in human behaviour, misconfigurations, and identity systems. In India, the top AI-driven
threats reported include AI-assisted credential stuffing and brute force attacks, Deepfake
impersonation in business email compromise (BEC), AI-powered malware (Polymorphic
malware), Automated reconnaissance of attack surfaces, and AI-generated phishing
emails.
Despite the rise in AI-driven attacks, only 14% of organizations say they are very
confident in their ability to defend against them. Meanwhile, 36% admit that AI threats are
outpacing their detection capabilities, and 21% organizations in India have no ability to
track AI-powered threats at all—exposing a significant preparedness gap.
Cyber Risk Is Now a Constant, not a Crisis
The cybersecurity landscape is no longer defined by episodic crises—it is a state of
constant exposure. Organizations in India are increasingly vulnerable to threats that
operate in the shadows. The most reported threats include software supply chain attacks
(64%), cloud vulnerabilities (60%), and Phishing (54%), Unpatched and Zero Day
exploits (50%) and ransomware (44%).
The most disruptive threats are no longer the most obvious. Topping the list are
unpatched and zero-day exploits, followed closely by insider threats, cloud
misconfigurations, software supply chain attacks, and human error. These threats are
particularly damaging because they often go undetected by traditional defences,
exploiting internal weaknesses and visibility gaps. As a result, these quieter, more
complex risks are now viewed as more dangerous than well-known threats like
ransomware or phishing.
Traditional threats such as phishing and malware are still growing at a rate of ~10%, but
this is comparatively modest —likely due to mature defences like endpoint protection and
awareness training. In contrast, the fastest-rising threats include Ransomware (22%),
Supply Chain Attacks (18%), insider treats (16%), cloud vulnerabilities (12%) and IOT/OT
attacks (12%). These threats are scaling rapidly because they exploit gaps in
governance, visibility, and system complexity—making them harder to detect and
potentially more damaging when successful.
The consequences are no longer limited to downtime. The top business impacts of
cyberattacks include data theft and privacy violations (60%), loss of customer trust
(50%), regulatory penalties (46%), and operational disruption (42%). Financial damage is
also real: 56% of respondents experienced breaches that resulted in monetary loss, with
one in five costing over US$500,000.
Teams Under Pressure: Too Few People, Too Many Problems
Security teams in India continue to face significant resource constraints. On average, just
7% of an organization’s workforce is dedicated to internal IT, and only 13% of that subset
is focused on cybersecurity. That equates to less than one full-time cybersecurity
professional for every 100 employees.
Only 15% of organizations have a standalone Chief Information Security Officer (CISO),
and most (63%) continue to combine cybersecurity responsibilities with broader IT roles.
Just 6% of organizations have specialized teams for functions like threat hunting and
security operations.
These lean teams are also facing mounting pressure from the surge in threats. The top
challenges reported include overwhelming threat volume (54%), difficulty in retaining
skilled cybersecurity talent (52%), and tool complexity (44%)—leading to burnout and
fragmentation within cyber teams.
Investment Is Rising, but Still Lagging Behind Risk
Despite increased awareness, cybersecurity investment remains disproportionately low.
On average, just 15% of IT budgets are allocated to cybersecurity, representing just over
1.4% of total revenue—a small fraction given the scale and severity of threats.
However, Budgets are ticking up, with nearly 80% of organizations in India reporting an
increase. However, most of these increases remain under 10%, suggesting that
investment is still cautious.
Organizations are increasingly shifting from infrastructure-heavy spending to more
strategic investments. The top five priorities include identity security, network security,
SASE/Zero Trust, cyber resilience, and cloud-native application protection—indicating a
shift toward access-centric, risk-based security planning.
However, critical areas such as OT/IoT security, DevSecOps, and security training
continue to receive limited funding—indicating a persistent lag in addressing operational
and human-layer vulnerabilities.
Platform-Driven Resilience Amid Rising Complexity
Convergence between security and networking is now mainstream, with 88% of
respondents in India either already converging or actively evaluating options. This move
reflects the urgency to simplify architectures, integrate defences, and streamline
operations.
74% of organizations are already on a consolidation journey—but challenges remain.
Despite this progress, nearly half of all respondents still cite tool management as a major
challenge, indicating that the problem is no longer the number of tools, but the
fragmentation and lack of integration across them.
Vendor consolidation is increasingly viewed as a strategic lever—not just for cost
reduction, but to improve detection speed, issue resolution, and visibility. The top benefits
organizations seek from consolidation include faster support (59%), cost savings
(53.0%), better integration (53%), and improved security posture (51%).
Supporting Quotes
“The findings of this survey point to a growing need for AI-accelerated defence strategies across
APJC. Organizations are facing a surge in stealthy, complex threats—from misconfigurations and
insider activity to AI-enabled attacks—that bypass traditional detection methods. A shift toward
integrated, risk-centric cybersecurity models is critical to staying ahead. In this new threat
landscape, reactive security is no longer enough—predictive, intelligence-driven operations must
become the norm.”
- Simon Piff, Research Vice-President, IDC Asia-Pacific
“Complexity is now the new battleground in cybersecurity—and AI is both the challenge and the
frontline defence. As threats grow quieter and more coordinated, Fortinet is helping organizations
across India stay ahead with a unified, platform-based approach that brings together visibility,
automation, and resilience. In today’s threat environment, speed, simplicity, and strategy matter
more than ever. Our focus is on helping customers shift from piecemeal defences to AI-powered
security that’s built for scale and sophistication.” - Vivek Srivastava, Country Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet
“As cyber threats grow more covert and coordinated, we’re seeing a clear shift in how
organizations approach cybersecurity investment. The focus is moving beyond infrastructure to
more strategic areas like identity, resilience, and access. At Fortinet, we’re helping customers
reframe cybersecurity as a long-term business enabler — not just a line of defence. Our platform
brings the scale, intelligence, and simplicity needed to adapt and thrive in this new reality.” - Rashish Pandey, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Asia & ANZ,
Fortinet
