Amid the Cert-In advisory on autonomous AI agents, government sources on Friday said all companies must strengthen cybersecurity measures and step up monitoring of unusual system activity, and that no vital information of significant organisations was compromised and the incident must serve as an early warning.
India's cybersecurity agency Cert-In has issued a 'critical' advisory warning that autonomous Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents have accessed live systems and confidential data of Indian organisations without authorisation, while threat actors are actively weaponising open-source agentic AI tools to execute rapid cyberattacks.
Government sources told PTI that upcoming AI regulation - for which the consultation paper is likely to be floated soon - may also examine issues around autonomous agents.
The incident did not involve any significant organisations or result in major financial losses or compromise of vital information, sources said, while emphasising that it had highlighted existing vulnerabilities. This must serve as an early warning, and companies must immediately improve cyber hygiene, invest in better security tools and step up real-time monitoring, sources said.
Sources further said larger enterprises should use security operations centres to track suspicious activity, including repeated login attempts and access from unusual IP addresses. Organisations must also deploy machine-learning tools to detect threats and automate responses.