What is AI Sabotage? How cyber criminals leverage tech to steal money

Hyderabad: Cybersecurity experts warn that India’s financial system is under constant attack from tech-savvy criminals.

Sensing a crisis, the industry now focuses more on cybersecurity as it is no longer about hacking passwords. Financial theft has reached alarming proportions, with hackers using different tactics to steal money and paralyze systems.

The threats:

AI Sabotage or The "Brain" Hack: Companies are using AI to make decisions, but hackers are now "poisoning" the data these AIs learn from. Imagine a bank’s AI being tricked into giving out bad loans because a hacker subtly messed with its logic.

Next-Gen Scams or The Deepfake Era: Forget emails with bad grammar. Scammers now use AI to clone a CEO’s voice or face in video calls to trick employees into sending money. If it looks and sounds like your boss, you’re more likely to click "send."

The Vendor Trap/ Supply Chain: You might be secure, but is the company that makes your HR software secure? Hackers are attacking the "middlemen" to gain a backdoor into thousands of businesses at once.

The Patching Race: New software bugs are found every day. Hackers use automated bots to find and attack these holes within hours. If a company takes weeks to "patch" (update) its software, the door stays wide open.

Digital Kidnapping or Ransomware: This isn't just about locking your files anymore. Hackers now sit inside your network for weeks, stealing your private data first. They then threaten to leak your secrets and shut down your business unless you pay up.

What This Means Specifically for India

While these threats are global, India’s unique digital infrastructure creates specific "flashpoints" for 2026:

1. The UPI and Fintech Target

India is a global leader in digital payments. With the massive volume of UPI transactions, "Cyber-Enabled Fraud" is the number one threat.

Experts warn that there will be an increase in AI-cloned voice scams targeting elderly citizens and small business owners, mimicking bank officials or family members to authorize fraudulent UPI transfers.

2. Critical Infrastructure Vulnerability

India’s rapid push toward Smart Cities and digital power grids makes "AI Vulnerabilities" and "Software Exploitation" a national security concern. In 2026, the risk isn't just a stolen credit card; it’s a hacker manipulating the AI controlling a regional power grid or water supply.

3. The "Back Office" to the World

As the world’s outsourcing hub, thousands of Indian IT firms are part of the global Supply Chain. If a mid-sized Indian company is breached, it could compromise hundreds of international clients in the US or Europe. This puts immense pressure on Indian firms to meet global security standards like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act to stay competitive.

4. MSMEs are the Weak Link

While big Indian tech giants have huge budgets, India’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are often unpatched and unprotected. These businesses are prime targets for ransomware, as they often lack the offline backups needed to recover without paying the "kidnappers."

This makes it very important that the vulnerable sections are protected, as they are going to be the main target in India, explained cybersecurity experts.