New Delhi: Following the opening remarks at the FutureCrime Summit 2026, experts convened for the event’s inaugural panel to address the accelerating challenge of automated threat vectors. Titled “Crime at Machine Speed: AI-Powered Cybercrime and the New Threat Landscape,” the session examined how autonomous systems, generative AI, and machine learning are fundamentally transforming digital warfare, legal liability, and regulatory oversight.
Transnational AI Threat Dimensions and Panel Direction
Moderated by Megha Khetarpal, Senior Director of Fraud & Identity Global Products at TransUnion, the panel tackled the operational, legal, and strategic dimensions of AI-driven security risks. Khetarpal steered the discussion by asking critical questions, including: “How is generative AI changing the scale, speed, and sophistication of cybercrime?”, “Can defensive AI keep pace with adversaries who continuously adapt their techniques and infrastructure?”, and “What technical indicators can help investigators distinguish AI-generated content from authentic digital evidence?”
The transition from manual intrusion techniques to machine-speed autonomous attack vectors represents a fundamental shift in national security. By deploying generative AI and self-adapting agentic models, threat actors establish high-velocity disruption vectors, requiring automated real-time defensive countermeasures.
Strategic Perspectives Across Defense, Law, and Technology
Maj. Gen. Dr. Bipin Bakshi, Distinguished Fellow at the CLAWS, detailed the evolving threat landscape by analyzing the operational nuances between disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation within cognitive domain warfare. He underscored that as threat actors deploy autonomous models to orchestrate synthetic media campaigns, modern regulatory frameworks and military defense postures must transition away from purely reactive incident management. Instead, he argued that national security architectures must implement predictive methodologies capable of anticipating and intercepting AI-driven influence operations before they disrupt public order or institutional stability.
Dr. Pavan Duggal, Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and President of Cyberlaws.Net, examined the complex legal realities of AI accountability, noting that no international jurisdiction has yet established legal personhood for autonomous algorithms. He explained that the emergence of agentic AI—systems capable of independent planning and execution—creates severe evidentiary hurdles in establishing actus reus and mens rea, complicating criminal attribution and jurisdictional enforcement.
Mini Rani Sharma, Head of the SeMT at MeitY, addressed the systemic and institutional requirements of national cyber defense, emphasizing that cybersecurity cannot be treated solely as a specialized technical function. She pointed out that protecting the digital economy requires an integrated defense strategy where government bodies, private enterprises, and individual citizens operate with continuous vigilance. She highlighted that building national digital resilience relies on fostering a proactive security culture across all enterprise levels, ensuring that administrative networks and public digital infrastructure remain protected against emerging automated vulnerabilities.
Somen Das, Associate Director at Accenture Cybersecurity, focused on the technical operational imperatives necessary to counter autonomous cyber attacks in enterprise environments. He asserted that traditional perimeter defenses and periodic security audits are insufficient against adversaries deploying machine-learning algorithms to execute rapid, self-adapting intrusion attempts. To neutralize threats operating at machine speed, he advocated for the immediate deployment of continuous threat monitoring, automated security orchestration, and real-time behavioral surveillance frameworks capable of detecting and isolating malicious telemetry before catastrophic system compromises occur.
