As India’s digital footprint expands at unprecedented speed, the country’s primary cyber response agency says it is contending with a surge in threats that mirrors the scale and complexity of the connected population it now serves.
A Record Year for Cyber Incidents
In 2025, India’s Computer Emergency Response Team, known as CERT-In, handled more than 29.44 lakh cyber incidents, according to a government statement released in New Delhi on Friday. The agency also issued 1,530 security alerts and 390 vulnerability notes over the course of the year, underscoring the growing volume of threats targeting government systems, private companies and individual users.
CERT-In sits at the center of India’s cybersecurity architecture, acting as both an early-warning system and a coordinator during large-scale digital disruptions. Officials said the incidents ranged across sectors and technologies, reflecting the broad exposure created by the country’s expanding digital infrastructure.
Alongside incident response, CERT-In empanelled 231 certified cybersecurity audit organisations in 2025, a move aimed at strengthening audit and vulnerability assessment capacity across critical information and communication technology systems.
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Expanding Reach Through Cyber Swachhta Kendra
A key pillar of CERT-In’s outreach is the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK), a platform set up to address malware and botnet infections at scale. According to the government, CSK now covers 98 per cent of India’s digital population, sending large-scale notifications to users whose devices show signs of infection.
The platform has onboarded 1,427 organisations and recorded 89.55 lakh downloads of its free botnet-removal tools. These tools are designed to help users detect and remediate malware on devices ranging from personal computers and mobile phones to home routers and internet-of-things equipment.
CERT-In said the centre tracks networks of infected, internet-connected devices and works closely with industry, academic institutions and internet service providers to identify compromised systems and alert users. The approach relies on voluntary cleanup and guidance rather than enforcement, reflecting the distributed nature of malware infections.
Training, Drills and Institutional Preparedness
Beyond technical tools, CERT-In has invested heavily in capacity building. In 2025, it conducted 32 specialised technical training programmes and 95 cybersecurity awareness sessions, reaching more than 91,000 participants. The agency also reported training 20,799 officers and cybersecurity professionals during the year.
Operational readiness was reinforced through 122 cybersecurity drills and exercises, including tabletop simulations conducted for 1,570 organisations across both public and private sectors. These exercises involved personnel from defence and paramilitary forces as well as sectors such as space, atomic energy, telecommunications, finance, power, oil and natural gas.
Officials said these drills are intended to test response coordination and decision-making under simulated attack conditions, an increasingly common practice as cyber incidents intersect with national security and essential services.
Recognition Amid Rapid Digital Growth
CERT-In also identified and published 29 common vulnerabilities and exposures during the year. Its work has drawn international recognition from platforms such as the World Economic Forum, the University of Oxford and France’s National Agency for the Security of Information Systems, particularly for efforts in AI-driven threat detection and near-real-time threat intelligence sharing.
The agency’s expanding mandate comes against the backdrop of India’s rapid digital growth. Government data shows that internet connections reached 100.29 crore in 2025, up from 25.15 crore in March 2014. Average monthly data consumption per user rose to 24.01 gigabytes, among the highest levels globally, from just 61.66 megabytes in 2014
