India Faces 3,195 Weekly Cyberattacks as AI Fuels New Threat Era

According to Check Point Software's 2026 Cyber Security Report, "In 2025, the weekly average cyber-attacks in India stood at 3,195, marking a 2 per cent increase compared to 2024." The rise in attacks highlights a broader trend where threat actors are moving away from manual methods in favour of high-speed, automated campaigns.

The shift in attack patterns is largely driven by the integration of artificial intelligence into cybercriminal toolkits. This technology enables attackers to operate at a scale and speed previously impossible. As noted in the report, "AI is changing the mechanics of cyber attacks, not just their volume," said Lotem Finkelstein, VP of Research at Check Point Software.

"We are seeing attackers move from purely manual operations to increasingly higher levels of automation, with early signs of autonomous techniques emerging."

The education sector has emerged as the most targeted industry in India, bearing the brunt of the onslaught with 7,684 weekly attacks per organisation. Other sectors also face intense pressure, with the government sector seeing 4,912 weekly attacks and business services 3,747.

The report explains that capabilities once reserved for the most sophisticated actors are now widely available, "enabling more personalised, coordinated, and scalable attacks against organisations of all sizes."

Ransomware also continues to be a major threat, becoming more fragmented as smaller, specialised groups take over the landscape. This decentralisation contributed to a 53 per cent increase in victims of extortion and a 50 per cent rise in new ransomware-as-a-service groups globally.

The report emphasises that defending against these evolving threats requires a fundamental change in strategy, stating that "defending against this shift requires revalidating security foundations for the AI era and stopping threats before they can propagate."

Beyond high-tech automation, social engineering is expanding into new areas like collaboration platforms and phone-based impersonation. Attackers are also exploiting unmonitored edge devices and VPNs to hide their activities within legitimate network traffic.

To address this, the report recommends that organisations adopt a prevention-first approach. It states that "defending against AI-driven threats requires rethinking how security is designed and enforced, not simply reacting faster."

- ANI