AI-driven cybercrime rises as agencies step up countermeasures
Security agencies have warned that cybercriminals and terror groups are increasingly using artificial intelligence to carry out attacks and spread propaganda. While cyber threats are rising rapidly, India has launched a proactive, multi-layered response to counter AI-driven crimes
New Delhi: The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced rapid changes to the way in which the world is functioning. While, in many sectors, AI has proven to be a very useful tool, there are also flip sides, which terrorists and criminals are taking advantage of. Security agencies have found that cybercrimes today, which are rapidly increasing, are largely AI driven, but India has mounted a proactive digital counteroffensive to such crimes.
Data show that organisations in the country face an average of 3,100 cyber attacks every week. The worry, however, is that cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to stage attacks. Moreover these criminals have extensively targeted the government and educational sector. It has been found that the educational sector is vulnerable due to weak cybersecurity infrastructure. The government is an obvious target since it stores vast and sensitive information of citizens.
The agencies say that cyber crime and cross border terror remain the biggest threat when it comes to national security. Terrorists are using AI to generate propaganda content and also create videos.
The cybercriminals on the other hand have been using AI to identify vulnerabilities in a system at a very high speed. They take advantage of the technology and target the system with ease.
Further they are also launching simultaneous attacks on multiple organisations with the help of this technology. AI is also helping cybercriminals automate phishing and credential harvesting campaigns. Further, these actors are also using AI to generate highly convincing content, which is then used to fuel their propaganda on social media.
An Intelligence Bureau official said that the ISI’s dedicated desk for cybercrime has been misusing this technology. They have been using AI to generate content aimed at creating tensions in India. This is a major shift and the Indian agencies have plenty of work to do to counter this menace.
The ISI has also identified people in India to create such content and flood it on the social media. Posts relating to groups such as the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) or Jaish-e-Mohammad are making the rounds on the social media. A close look at the content clearly shows that the use of AI was very high.
Experts on cybercrime say that it is not as though the Indian agencies have not been able to counter this menace. The challenge however is that AI helps generate and deliver content so fast that it is at times hard to keep pace.
Another official said that due to the use of this technology, cyber attacks have become much faster and more difficult to detect. The urgent need of the hour is a major shift when it comes to dealing with this new problem. Security audits have to be more frequent and training on AI-based threat detection is a must. This is not just for the government, but for those working in organisations which are vulnerable to cyber attacks, the official also added.
It has also been found that cybercriminals have been using AI for social engineering. Through this technology they have been gathering as well as analysing personal information available on the social media. AI is then used to predict the victim’s behaviour, following which the criminals tailor the scam. In most cases it has been found that the victims were lured with high paying jobs and then scammed into investing in cryptocurrency schemes.
The challenge ahead is huge says an official. 2025 has been a tough year and there was an estimated financial loss of Rs 20,000 crore due to cybercrime. The biggest incidents of cybercrime include AI-driven phishing, digital arrests and investment frauds. In addition to these, cyber security officials found that there was an increased used of AI for deepfakes and social engineering.
India has mounted a multi-layered AI-driven and institutional response to combat the surge in such cases. An cyber security official said that the biggest shift that India has made is to shift from reactive to proactive AI-based defences to battle problems such as deepfake, financial frauds and also AI-driven phishing attacks.