According to a study, commissioned by Fortinet, based on the findings of a new IDC survey, 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.
The rise of AI-enabled cybercrime is no longer theoretical. Nearly 72 per cent of organisations 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 per cent and a 3X increase by 12 per cent of organisations. 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 per cent of organisations say they are very confident in their ability to defend against them. Meanwhile, 36 per cent admit that AI threats are outpacing their detection capabilities, and 21 per cent organisations in India have no ability to track AI-powered threats at all, exposing a significant preparedness gap.
The cybersecurity landscape is no longer defined by episodic crises; it is a state of constant exposure. Organisations in India are increasingly vulnerable to threats that operate in the shadows. The most reported threats include software supply chain attacks (64 per cent), cloud vulnerabilities (60 per cent), and phishing (54 per cent), unpatched and zero day exploits (50 per cent) and ransomware (44 per cent). 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 approximately 10 per cent, 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 per cent), supply chain attacks (18 per cent), insider treats (16 per cent), cloud vulnerabilities (12 per cent) and internet of thing (IoT)/ operational technology (OT) attacks (12 per cent).
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 per cent), loss of customer trust (50 per cent), regulatory penalties (46 per cent), and operational disruption (42 per cent). Financial damage is also real: 56 per cent of respondents experienced breaches that resulted in monetary loss, with one in five costing over $500,000.
Further, security teams in India continue to face significant resource constraints. On average, just 7 per cent of an organisation’s workforce is dedicated to internal IT, and only 13 per cent of that subset is focused on cybersecurity. That equates to less than one full-time cybersecurity professional for every 100 employees. Only 15 per cent of organisations have a standalone chief information security officer (CISO), and most (63 per cent) continue to combine cybersecurity responsibilities with broader IT roles. Just 6 per cent of organisations have specialised 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 per cent), difficulty in retaining skilled cybersecurity talent (52 per cent), and tool complexity (44 per cent), leading to burnout and fragmentation within cyber teams.
Despite increased awareness, cybersecurity investment remains disproportionately low. On average, just 15 per cent of IT budgets are allocated to cybersecurity, representing just over 1.4 per cent of total revenue, a small fraction given the scale and severity of threats. However, budgets are ticking up, with nearly 80 per cent of organisations in India reporting an increase. However, most of these increases remain under 10 per cent, suggesting that investment is still cautious. Organisations are increasingly shifting from infrastructure-heavy spending to more strategic investments. The top five priorities include identity security, network security, Secure Access Service Edge (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.
Furthermore, convergence between security and networking is now mainstream, with 88 per cent 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 per cent of organisations 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 organisations seek from consolidation include faster support (59 per cent), cost savings (53.0 per cent), better integration (53 per cent), and improved security posture (51 per cent).
Commenting on the study, Simon Piff, research vice-president, IDC Asia-Pacific, said, “The findings of this survey point to a growing need for AI-accelerated defence strategies across APJC. Organisations 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.”
Meanwhile, Vivek Srivastava, country manager, India and SAARC, Fortinet, said, “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 organisations 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 is built for scale and sophistication.”
Further, Rashish Pandey, vice president, marketing and communications, Asia and ANZ, Fortinet, said, “As cyber threats grow more covert and coordinated, we are seeing a clear shift in how organisations approach cybersecurity investment. The focus is moving beyond infrastructure to more strategic areas like identity, resilience, and access. At Fortinet, we are 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.”
