97% of Indian organisations investing in AI & ML technology: DSCI report

Around 97 per cent of Indian organisations have invested in AI/ML technologies, said a report released by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) on Friday.

Further, around 84 per cent of organisations surveyed had invested in cloud technology, according to the report titled ‘India Cybersecurity Domestic Market’ by DSCI.

“Organisations are increasingly investing in emerging technologies, with Cloud and AI/ML emerging as cornerstones of strategic investment. ~97 per cent and ~84 per cent of the analysed organisations have invested in AI/ML and cloud, respectively,” said Vinayak Godse, Chief Executive Officer, DSCI.

The cybersecurity market in India touched $6 billion in 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 30 per cent during 2019-23, while the cybersecurity products segment grew by more than 3.5 times to reach $3.7 billion in 2023 from $1 billion in 2019 approximately, according to the report.

Further, the survey also estimated India's cybersecurity market to account for 5 per cent of the global market by 2028.

“The Indian cybersecurity industry has been at the forefront, supporting the Government and other critical sectors, facilitating the adoption of emerging technologies, including AI/ML and cloud, and mitigating evolving cybersecurity risks. India is emerging as a global cybersecurity hub,” said S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.

The report also sheds light on how threat actors are using emails as the most critical tool to target organisations, followed by phishing, where about 90 per cent of the organisations recognised email as the foremost and most critical pathway for cyberattacks, and 84 per cent acknowledged phishing as the predominant cyber threat confronting their industry.

The cybersecurity talent shortage has become a significant concern for the country’s end-user organisations and security companies, the report underlines. While around 75 per cent of surveyed organisations highlighted the shortage of skilled professionals as a significant concern, in another study conducted by DSCI, 47 per cent of participants reported that cybersecurity professionals make up less than 5 per cent of the total workforce.

“Significant challenges cited by 75% of respondents include a talent shortage. Furthermore, organisations in the country are grappling with the additional challenge of attrition,” read the report.

On the sectoral front, the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) and IT/Information Technology Enabled Services (ITeS) sectors were reported as the leading spenders on cybersecurity in India, in the study.

“BFSI spending on cybersecurity grew at a CAGR of 35 per cent from $518 million in 2019 to $1,738 million in 2023 due to stringent and granular policy requirements,” said the report.

The consequences of cyberattacks on businesses were also highlighted in the report, with 87.5 per cent of respondents in the survey reporting that cyberattacks created reputational damage to their organisation.

Seventy-five per cent of the surveyed organisations also reported financial and revenue losses, and disruption of internal operations as damage caused by cyberattacks in India, according to the findings of the survey.

The report was prepared by DSCI and involved an analysis of more than 120 organisations in India.

The Data Security Council of India (DSCI) is an industry body on data protection in India, under Nasscom, and works together with the government and their agencies, law enforcement agencies, and industry in the Indian cybersecurity space.