AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF EMERGING CYBERSECURITY TRENDS AND THEIR CHALLENGES IN INDIA

AUTHOR – KARTIK* & DR. POOJA MISHRA**

* STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF LAW, AMITY LAW SCHOOL, AMITY UNIVERSITY, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

** PROFESSOR AT SCHOOL OF LAW, AMITY LAW SCHOOL, AMITY UNIVERSITY, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

BEST CITATION – KARTIK & DR. POOJA MISHRA, AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF EMERGING CYBERSECURITY TRENDS AND THEIR CHALLENGES IN INDIA, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (8) OF 2026, PG. 641-651, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I868

ABSTRACT

India’s transformation shape the world into a digital economy where governance, banking, healthcare, education and key infrastructure has generated huge digital economy. Regrettably, it has also created a growing and increasingly sophisticated range of cyber-security threats. India, which has over 900 million internet users, largest digital payments infrastructure in the world and a national digitalisation agenda, has both tremendous opportunities and tremendous vulnerabilities in the cyber space. This article provides an analytical overview of the key emerging cyber security trends facing India which include ransomware, state-sponsored advanced persistent threats, artificial intelligence-enabled attacks, vulnerabilities specific to the Internet of Things, cloud security risks, 5G network issues, and cybercrime enabled by cryptocurrency and evaluates the adequacy of India’s legal and regulatory apparatus to respond to these trends. India’s cybersecurity governance framework based on the Information Technology Act 2000 along with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and CERT-In Directions 2022 is essentially inadequate for the contemporary threat environment. This finds its manifestation in definitional obsolescence, institutional fragmentation and enforcement weakness, along with significant regulatory gap for emerging technologies.  Following a comparative study of the US, EU and Singapore cyber security frameworks, the article proposes evidence-based reforms including the establishment of a National Cyber Security Act, regulatory sector-specific security standards for critical infrastructure, an IoT security regime, and a sustained investment in the cyber security workforce.

Keywords: Cybersecurity Law; Information Technology Act 2000; CERT-In; Critical Infrastructure Protection; Ransomware; Artificial Intelligence; Internet of Things; 5G Security; Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023; India.