Indian Firms Struggle to Counter Cyber Threats Amid Internal Friction

Indian organizations are struggling to defend themselves against cyber threats, according to a new report from Cisco. The 'Relentless Defense Report' found that 96% of Indian companies experienced material business disruptions due to cyber incidents over the past year.

The main obstacle to stronger cyber defenses is not technological limitations, but internal organizational friction. This includes bureaucratic approval delays, fragmented data, and disconnected teams. In fact, more than one in three incidents involved artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced attacks.

India's average score for cyber defense was 66 out of 100, marginally above the global average of 64. However, only 8% of Indian organizations qualified for the best-performing category, matching the global figure. These top-tier defenders combined broad coverage, rapid response times, and unified team operations.

Operational silos emerged as a critical vulnerability, with only 40% of respondents stating that their security, networking, and IT teams functioned as a cohesive unit with shared tooling and visibility. Communication gaps with executive leadership were also prominent, with nearly half (49%) of Indian respondents finding their security metrics too technical to persuade company executives.

Data access constraints further impeded defense capabilities, with 44% of Indian organizations spending more time collecting and correlating data across systems than actively countering actual threats. Furthermore, 43% indicated that critical insights were missed due to unreachable data silos.