India faces a critical cybersecurity threat as advanced AI technology enables unprecedented cyberattacks, necessitating the urgent launch of an ‘Atmanirbhar Cyber Suraksha’ mission to safeguard national infrastructure.
Recent developments in cybersecurity have revealed a fundamental shift in the landscape, with many nations beginning to recognize the implications while others, particularly India, remain alarmingly unprepared for the challenges ahead.
Last week, Anthropic unveiled its latest artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of autonomously discovering, chaining, and weaponizing software vulnerabilities at a speed that far surpasses human capabilities. This system identified thousands of high-severity zero-day vulnerabilities across major operating systems and browsers, even uncovering a flaw in OpenBSD’s TCP stack that had evaded detection for 27 years despite extensive audits and stress testing.
This breakthrough fundamentally alters the rules of cyber conflict, transitioning from traditional methods that rely on tricking humans into clicking malicious links to machines that can independently locate and exploit vulnerabilities. The entire lifecycle of an attack—reconnaissance, exploitation, and persistence—can now operate as a continuous, automated process, executing faster than human responses can adapt.
Recognizing the explosive implications of this technology, Anthropic chose not to release the system publicly. Instead, it established Project Glasswing, a highly exclusive initiative granting access only to a select group of America’s most critical institutions, including Apple, Google, Microsoft, AWS, Nvidia, and JPMorgan Chase. The Pentagon and Wall Street were promptly briefed on these developments.
Despite the equally significant risks this technology poses to India’s banks, tech giants, and critical infrastructure, Anthropic did not extend an invitation to any Indian institutions. This omission highlights a concerning gap in preparedness.
The United States is treating this situation with national urgency due to the profound implications of AI in cyber operations. The technology has lowered the barriers to offensive cyber operations, enabling scale and speed that were previously unattainable. What once required specialized teams can now be executed by machines with minimal warning.
Recent events illustrate how this capability is already being utilized. In January 2026, the U.S. deployed AI-augmented cyber operations in Venezuela, causing targeted blackouts across Caracas by disrupting power grids and air-defense systems, which facilitated the capture of Nicolás Maduro without extensive military engagement. Similar cyber tactics were integrated into joint U.S.-Israeli operations against Iran, disabling communications, sensors, and command networks in mere minutes. These operations demonstrate how a nation’s critical infrastructure can be disrupted quietly and remotely, often with limited attribution.
If such tactics were employed against India, the consequences could be catastrophic. Major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru could experience prolonged blackouts, leaving hundreds of millions without electricity, water, or essential services. The national railway network and financial markets could be paralyzed in an instant, while water supplies to entire states could be cut off, and key defense installations could be rendered blind—all within hours and with little chance of clear attribution.
While the U.S. moves swiftly to address these threats, India remains dangerously complacent, clinging to its self-image as the world’s IT superpower. Indian companies secure global banks, cloud platforms, and Fortune 500 systems with exceptional discipline and precision; however, that same rigor is often absent in the protection of its own critical infrastructure. The result is a nation that is perilously exposed, with outdated systems, inconsistent patching, and a security culture that treats risk as a mere compliance checkbox rather than a core national responsibility.
The scale of India’s vulnerability is already evident. More than 60% of advanced cyber threats targeting the country are believed to originate from the China-Pakistan axis, with over 265 million cyberattacks recorded in 2025 alone. These sustained efforts aim to map critical infrastructure—power grids, water systems, telecom networks, and defense assets—for future disruption.
India has not responded adequately to this escalating threat. There has been no comprehensive national audit of foreign hardware dependencies, and AI-driven red-teaming of critical infrastructure remains limited. Furthermore, there has been little public acknowledgment of how dangerously exposed these systems truly are.
The hardware vulnerabilities are even more alarming. Across India’s power grids, water systems, transportation networks, and defense installations, millions of Chinese devices form the backbone of operations. Surveillance cameras, routers, switches, and industrial control systems are embedded throughout critical infrastructure. These devices are not peripheral; they are integral to the nation’s operations, difficult to replace, and often not fully understood.
While the U.S. has taken steps to restrict Chinese networking equipment, recognizing it as a national security threat, India continues to tolerate this deep dependence primarily due to cost considerations. The government readily imposes import duties on Chinese smartphones and solar panels in the name of Atmanirbhar Bharat, yet when it comes to the routers, switches, and industrial control systems that underpin the nation’s critical infrastructure, cost still trumps security.
India must treat this situation as a national security emergency and immediately launch an Atmanirbhar Bharat Cyber Suraksha Mission. High-risk foreign hardware needs to be systematically replaced across critical infrastructure with trusted and verifiable alternatives. This is a matter of national security.
Additionally, India must deploy AI within its own systems to continuously test and strengthen defenses, identifying vulnerabilities before they can be exploited externally. Critical systems should be isolated where necessary to reduce exposure and limit the potential spread of an attack.
These actions require urgent coordination across government, industry, and academia, backed by sustained investment and strong political will. There is no time to waste; complacency will lead to disaster.
Atmanirbhar, meaning self-sufficient or self-reliant in Hindi, is a policy initiative (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan) launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote self-reliance in various sectors.
According to India Currents, the time for decisive action is now.