New Delhi, 24 September: ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity, today released the ESET Enterprise Cybersecurity Report 2026, which found that 85% of organisations in India experienced at least one AI–related cyber threat in the past 12 months.
Commissioned by ESET in partnership with Blackbox Research, the study surveyed 400 cybersecurity decision-makers across Indian enterprise, including large enterprises and SMBs. The findings also revealed that nearly all organisations (99%) are already using or piloting AI across at least one function, across customer service, document processing, business analytics, software development, risk management and threat detection.
“AI is becoming deeply embedded in how businesses operate. As we give it access to more data and greater influence over decisions, organisations must ensure the right oversight and safeguards are in place. Trusting AI also means knowing how and where it is being used,” said Parvinder Walia, President of the APAC region, ESET.
AI is reshaping enterprise cyber risk
As AI becomes embedded across business functions, most organisations are introducing safeguards, but visibility into how AI is being used remains limited. Only 56% have implemented measures to monitor AI tool access and outputs, highlighting a gap in organisations’ ability to oversee and manage AI-related risk.
AI-related threats are emerging both from within organisations and from external attackers. Four in ten organisations (40%) reported employee misuse of generative AI and around five in ten (48%) reported data leakage through AI platforms. At the same time, attackers are using AI to manipulate human judgement and target everyday decisions. AI-generated phishing and impersonation attacks were the most commonly reported AI-related threat (48%), followed by AI-enabled deepfake or voice cloning attacks (47%).
Swift response to cyber incidents is crucial
Beyond AI-related threats, eight in ten Indian organisations (80%) experienced at least one major cybersecurity incident during the past year, while 44% experienced three or more incidents. Data exfiltration, cloud environment breaches and business email compromise were the most common incidents reported.
The bigger challenge, however, was responding once an incident occurred. While 77% of organisations said they were able to detect and respond to threats within 24 hours, delayed detection remained one of the top challenges, cited by 55% of respondents. More than half (54%) cited limited internal resources, while 53% reported a lack of visibility across environments as some of the key challenges.
The findings point to a potential gap between organisations’ confidence in their cyber resilience and their ability to consistently detect and respond to threats. While 95% of respondents said they remain moderately or very confident in their organisation’s ability to withstand and recover from a cyberattack, repeated incidents and persistent detection and visibility challenges suggest that confidence needs to be supported by measurable capabilities.
“In cybersecurity, speed changes the outcome. A threat left undetected for hours can quickly become a business-wide incident. Organisations need continuous visibility, rapid response and access to deep expertise to contain threats early and protect business continuity,” said Walia.
No single dominant cause of cybersecurity incidents.
Cyber incidents among Indian enterprises are being driven by a broad range of weaknesses rather than a single dominant cause.
Lack of visibility across the IT environment was cited by 42% of respondents as a leading cause of cybersecurity incidents, followed by third-party or supply chain compromise (40%), weak or stolen credentials (38%) and limited security resources (38%).
The findings suggest that organisations are being exposed across multiple points of their technology environments, making visibility, people and processes as important to resilience as the security technologies themselves.
Training is widespread, but human risk persists
Although almost all enterprises are providing cybersecurity training at least annually, employee awareness and training remained one of the leading cybersecurity challenges, cited by 45% of respondents.
When asked about barriers to improving security behaviour, 44% cited a lack of employee engagement, while 43% said cybersecurity training materials were not engaging enough.
Separately, a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals and the rapidly evolving threat landscape were cited among the top cybersecurity challenges by 42% and 39% of respondents respectively.
“Phishing and social engineering continue to demonstrate why the human layer of cybersecurity cannot be overlooked. As AI makes malicious communications more convincing and personalised, organisations need to continuously build employee awareness through relevant training and realistic simulations. Technology can stop many threats, but a well-prepared employee can help stop the one that gets through,” added Walia.
Security priorities are shifting as AI adoption grows
As AI, cloud platforms and connected technologies reshape enterprise environments, organisations are expanding their cybersecurity priorities beyond foundational controls. The next phase of investment is increasingly focused on capabilities that provide greater visibility, specialist expertise and faster response. At the same time, the impact of cyber incidents remains significant, with around one in six (15%) reporting significant financial losses.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR) was the most widely planned cybersecurity capability over the next 12 months, with 84% of organisations currently using or planning to adopt it. Cyber insurance is also gaining attention, with 57% already being covered and 32% planning to obtain coverage. However, 97% of organisations reported challenges in obtaining or maintaining cyber insurance, with 50% citing stricter security requirements as a challenge.
“Cybersecurity is now essential to keeping businesses running. As AI and connected technologies grow, organisations need to understand where their risks are, react quickly when something goes wrong, and adopt new technology with confidence,” concluded Parvinder.
The ESET Enterprise Cybersecurity Report 2026 was commissioned by ESET and conducted by Blackbox Research in Q2 2026. The study surveyed 400 cybersecurity decision-makers across India, representing organisations of varying sizes and across a wide range of industries and verticals. The research examined current cybersecurity challenges, enterprise resilience, AI adoption, evolving security priorities and approaches to managing cyber risk.
Read the full ESET Enterprise Cybersecurity Report 2026 here.