India's Cybersecurity Woes: 96% of Businesses Hit by Disruptive Incidents

Cyber incidents have been on the rise in India, affecting nearly all businesses. According to Cisco's Relentless Defense report, a staggering 96% of organisations in the country suffered a material business-disrupting cyber incident over the past year.

More than one-third of these attacks involved artificial intelligence-enhanced threats. The study found that internal organisational friction, such as bureaucratic approval delays and disconnected teams, poses a greater challenge to strengthening cyber defences than technological limitations.

India's performance in terms of cybersecurity was marginally above the global average, with an average score of 66 out of 100. However, only 8% of organisations qualified for the best-performing category, which requires broad coverage, rapid response times, and unified team operations.

The report also highlighted operational silos as a critical vulnerability in Indian organisations. Only 40% of respondents said their security, networking, and IT teams functioned as a cohesive unit with shared tooling and visibility.