NEW DELHI: A high-level security alert has been sounded across agencies in-charge of guarding the India AI Impact Summit 2026 following a slew of cyber threats from foreign-based attackers.
A senior cyber security official overseeing summit operations said that a “G20-grade” multi-layered cyber shield has been activated and that it would remain in force until the conclusion of the summit on February 20.
According to the official, intelligence inputs warned of coordinated digital attacks targeting government infrastructure and summit-related systems.
Officials said that one particularly concerning threat involved misuse of technology and social media platforms to fabricate or manipulate statements by world leaders attending the summit. Authorities fear that such disinformation could potentially disrupt diplomatic engagements and public discourse.
“Cyber monitoring teams are maintaining round-the-clock surveillance of online platforms to detect and neutralise any such campaigns linked to the event,” a senior officer said.
Security agencies have also warned that government websites remain vulnerable to “watering hole” attacks, a tactic in which hackers compromise trusted websites to silently deploy malware to visitors.
Intelligence inputs further suggest that cybercriminal groups are preparing ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure, alongside distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults intended to overwhelm digital public platforms and disrupt essential services.
Investigators are also bracing for high-powered brute-force intrusions leveraging advanced computing capabilities to target routers, switches and video conferencing hardware used during the summit.
In addition, agencies have also flagged the risk of infected USB storage devices being deployed to infiltrate secure systems and spread malware across networks. Foreign-based threat actors are also believed to be exploiting outdated routers used by some internet service providers, converting them into proxy networks to mount attacks on Indian IT infrastructure.
To counter these threats, authorities have deployed a comprehensive defence architecture engineered to withstand thousands of attack attempts per minute, the officials said, adding that the system includes mandatory multi-factor authentication, real-time patch management, disabled USB autorun features, restricted user privileges, continuous data backups and ongoing vulnerability and penetration testing audits.
The officials added that India’s previous experience in hosting the G20 Summit, during which over 1.6 million attempts of cyber attack were successfully neutralised without a breach.