Govt steps up cyber defence against AI-enabled threats with sector-wide security exercises
New Delhi, July 30
In a major push to strengthen India's AI cybersecurity capabilities, the government has conducted cyber security exercises across industries, according to a statement by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has deployed AI-driven situational awareness systems and expanded AI-enabled vulnerability assessments of public-facing digital assets in a sandbox environment to identify and mitigate security vulnerabilities.
The ministry added that the government is aware of the evolving cybersecurity threats and challenges, including those arising from AI-enabled attacks.
It further stated that AI can amplify systemic cyber risks by facilitating automated reconnaissance, faster exploitation of vulnerabilities, credential compromise and sophisticated multilingual social engineering campaigns.
"AI-driven situational awareness systems are deployed by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) to detect malicious domains and phishing activities for necessary mitigation," it said.
Additionally, CERT-In conducted 10 customised cybersecurity exercises and drills during June-July 2026 on the theme "Building Resilience against Frontier AI-driven Cyber Threats."
The exercises brought together 1,470 participants from 345 government and private-sector organisations across key sectors, including power, telecom, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), transport, education, healthcare and space, as per the release.
CERT-In operates an automated cyber threat intelligence exchange platform that disseminates tailored alerts to organisations across sectors, enabling them to take proactive measures to identify and mitigate cyber threats.
The release further added CERT-In is one of the international partners to co-sign the joint high-level risk analysis report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) entitled "Building trust in AI through a cyber-risk-based approach," published by the National Cybersecurity Agency for France (ANSSI) in February 2025.
"The Government is committed to ensuring an open, safe, trusted and accountable cyberspace. Several legal, technical and administrative policy measures have been implemented to address the risks posed by AI-enabled cyber threats, enhance cyber resilience, and strengthen incident response capabilities," the release said.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Good to see India taking proactive steps. As someone in the tech sector, I know how fast AI threats evolve—automated hacking and multilingual phishing are no joke. But I hope the government also focuses on digital literacy for the common person. Most scams target people who aren't aware of the risks.
This is reassuring! I work in BFSI and we recently had a drill—it was eye-opening how easily AI can compromise credentials. Kudos to CERT-In for bringing multiple sectors together. But I hope these exercises aren't just a one-time thing. Cyber threats evolve daily; we need continuous updates and refreshers.
A step in the right direction, but let's be honest—we've seen similar initiatives before that don't always reach the ground level. The real test will be how quickly CERT-In can respond when a major breach happens. For now, it's good that they're collaborating internationally with ANSSI. Better than working in silos.
As a student in cybersecurity, I'm thrilled to see this focus! 😊 The fact that they're using AI to fight AI is smart. But I wonder—are they training enough Indian professionals? We need more skilled manpower to counter these threats. Also, please make some of this data public so researchers like me can learn.
Important initiative, but I have a slight criticism: why only 10 exercises? With threats growing exponentially, we need many more such drills across districts too, not just in metros. Also, the common man still faces issues like SIM swap fraud. Hope this trickles down to everyday safety measures.
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