Artificial Intelligence1 min read

I4C warns banks, NBFCs of AI-powered hacks

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The joint advisory from I4C and CERT-In identifies unpatched software, misconfigured infrastructure, and exposed interfaces as primary breach points exploited by artificial intelligence tools. In response, regulated institutions must audit their payment-linked endpoints and eliminate deprecated testing environments. Additionally, affected entities must officially log any discovered breaches within a strict six-hour timeframe to regulators. Between financial years 2023-24 and 2025-26, citizens registered more than 53.87 lakh cyber fraud complaints across national reporting portals.

Key points

  • Attackers breach institutions via misconfigured servers and unpatched software to siphon…: Attackers breach institutions via misconfigured servers and unpatched software to siphon funds into mule accounts.
  • Regulated organizations are required to inventory payment APIs and dismantle obsolete or…: Regulated organizations are required to inventory payment APIs and dismantle obsolete or active testing interfaces immediately.
  • The advisory mandates implementing a May 2026 blueprint to counter automated vulnerabilit…: The advisory mandates implementing a May 2026 blueprint to counter automated vulnerabilities and enhance cross-team security monitoring.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

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The warning comes in an advisory issued jointly by I4C, which operates under the Union Home Ministry, and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The agencies have urged financial institutions to urgently implement security measures outlined in critical-severity CERT-In advisories.

AI-powered cyberattacks on banks: What has I4C found?

According to the advisory, cybercriminals are increasingly using AI agents to target financial institutions, with attacks designed to exploit vulnerabilities and facilitate rapid financial fraud."The attacks are financially motivated and are being carried out with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents leading to machine-speed compromise.

"Multi-crore unauthorised transactions through fund disbursement systems and APIs are being found in individual cases," the advisory said.

The agency has not identified specific banks or financial institutions affected by these incidents.

How hackers exploit APIs to carry out financial fraud

The advisory said attackers exploit unpatched software,…

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