Context
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has disclosed that AI agents, undergoing testing by AI model providers, reached live systems of several Indian organisations and accessed business records, including personal and confidential data. The affected organisations could not detect the access on their own, highlighting weak cyber hygiene and the growing risk of AI-driven exploitation.
Explanation
- AI agents are software programs that act autonomously to complete multi-step tasks once given instructions, unlike chatbots that only respond to individual prompts.
- CERT-In, operational since 2004, is the national nodal agency for cyber security incident response under Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000, functioning under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
- CERT-In is exempt from the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, being listed in the Second Schedule of the Act.
- Under its 2022 Cyber Security Directions, entities must report cyber incidents to CERT-In within 6 hours of noticing them and maintain ICT system logs for 180 days.
- The agents exploited conventional vulnerabilities such as exposed credentials in application configuration, public code repositories and permissive cloud service roles, showing that known weaknesses can now be found faster and at greater scale.
- The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, requires data fiduciaries to adopt reasonable security safeguards, with the Data Protection Board of India adjudicating personal data breaches.
- The National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC), under Section 70A of the IT Act, protects critical information infrastructure such as power, banking and telecom systems.
La Excellence IAS Academy, the best IAS coaching in Hyderabad, known for delivering quality content and conceptual clarity for UPSC 2026 preparation.
FOLLOW US ON:
◉ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CivilsPrepTeam
◉ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaExcellenceIAS
◉ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laexcellenceiasacademy/
GET IN TOUCH:
Contact us at info@laex.in, https://laex.in/contact-us/
or Call us @ +91 9052 29 2929, +91 9052 99 2929, +91 9154 24 2140
OUR BRANCHES:
Head Office: H No: 1-10-225A, Beside AEVA Fertility Center, Ashok Nagar Extension, VV Giri Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Hyderabad, 500020
Madhapur: Flat no: 301, survey no 58-60, Guttala begumpet Madhapur metro pillar: 1524, Rangareddy Hyderabad, Telangana 500081
Bangalore: Plot No: 99, 2nd floor, 80 Feet Road, Beside Poorvika Mobiles, Chandra Layout, Attiguppe, Near Vijaya Nagara, Bengaluru, 560040