AI-powered attacks rising: 96% of Indian organisations report cyber incidents

Nearly 96% of organisations in India experienced a material, business-disrupting cyber incident in the past 12 months, while more than one in three incidents involved AI-enhanced attacks, according to Cisco's Relentless Defense Report.

The report, based on a double-blind survey of 8,000 security professionals across 30 markets, including 1,000 respondents from India, also identified internal organisational problems as a major challenge for cybersecurity teams.

The report found that 96% of Indian organisations surveyed suffered at least one material, business-disrupting cyber incident over the past year.

More than one in three of these incidents involved AI-enhanced attacks, indicating the growing role of artificial intelligence in the cyber threat landscape.

India recorded an average cybersecurity score of 66 out of 100, slightly above the global average of 64.

However, only 8% of Indian organisations qualified for the report's best-performing category, matching the global figure.

Internal gaps are slowing cyber defence

Cisco's report found that cybersecurity challenges are not limited to technology.

Only 40% of respondents in India said their security, networking and IT teams work as a cohesive unit with shared tools and visibility.

The report identified bureaucratic approval delays, fragmented data and disconnected teams as significant obstacles to strengthening cyber defences.

Data silos are creating another problem

Data access and coordination were also major concerns.

Around 44% of Indian organisations said their teams spend more time collecting and correlating data across different systems than dealing with actual threats.

Another 43% said critical security insights were missed because important information was trapped in inaccessible data silos.

The findings suggest that having multiple security systems does not necessarily guarantee that teams can use the available information quickly when an incident occurs.

Security teams struggle to communicate with executives

The report also highlighted difficulties in communicating cybersecurity risks to senior management.

Nearly 49% of Indian respondents said the security metrics they measure are too technical to persuade company executives.

Another 34% said they struggled to translate business metrics into actionable information for decision-making.

Meanwhile, 26% said their organisations did not have a consistent framework to evaluate security performance.

AI is helping security teams respond faster

Despite the risks associated with AI-enhanced attacks, security professionals also reported significant benefits from using AI for defence.

More than nine in 10 practitioners surveyed in India said AI improved detection and response efficiency by at least 25%.

Nearly one in three respondents said AI significantly reduced operational workloads.

However, adoption of AI agents remains cautious. Around four in 10 Indian organisations have extensively deployed AI agents in their security operations.

Cisco said concerns over data exposure, system compromise and third-party management are among the factors limiting wider deployment of AI agents.

This creates a dual challenge for organisations: AI can help security teams process threats and respond faster, but businesses must also manage the risks associated with putting AI systems into sensitive security environments.

What the report means for Indian companies

The report indicates that improving cybersecurity requires more than investing in additional security technology.

Organisations also need better coordination between IT, networking and security teams, improved access to data and clearer communication between technical teams and senior management.

Cisco's findings suggest that organisations with wider security coverage, faster response times and more unified teams are better positioned to manage cyber incidents.

Among organisations that increased their security spending, the report found that top-performing defenders were nearly twice as likely to see incidents fall.

Cisco on building trust in AI

Sunil Potti, Cisco's senior vice president and general manager for Security, Observability and Data Platform, said trust and security need to be built into AI adoption.

“Democratising AI enabling every person and organisation to harness its potential demands that we build trust into its foundation,” Potti said.

He added that security and resilience need to remain closely connected if organisations and consumers are to make wider use of AI.

The findings show that Indian organisations are dealing with two interconnected cybersecurity challenges: increasingly AI-enhanced threats and internal barriers that can slow responses.

The widespread use of fragmented systems can make it harder for security teams to see the full picture during an incident. At the same time, AI tools can improve detection and response but require safeguards around sensitive data and third-party access.

The report therefore places operational coordination alongside technology as a key part of cyber resilience. For Indian organisations, the challenge is not only stopping attacks but also ensuring that the right teams can access the right information and act quickly when threats emerge.