New Delhi, Oct. 19 -- Cybersecurity firm Rubrik says AI-powered attacks are reducing the time between identifying a vulnerability and exploiting it, forcing businesses to rethink how they protect data, applications and AI agents.

Cybersecurity firm Rubrik has warned that the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence could expose businesses of all sizes to cyberattacks, as autonomous AI agents increasingly gain the ability to identify vulnerabilities, exploit weaknesses and compromise systems with limited human intervention.

The company believes the threat is no longer confined to large enterprises, financial institutions or government organisations. Smaller businesses and startups could also become targets as AI reduces the time, effort and technical expertise required to launch attacks.

Alok Agrawal, Chief Solutions Officer, Rubrik, said, "The emergence of agentic AI, which allows software systems to execute tasks and make decisions autonomously, is changing the economics of cybercrime and forcing organisations to move beyond conventional approaches to cybersecurity.

He further added, "Rubrik is responding by expanding its AI security portfolio, investing in India and strengthening partnerships with global system integrators to make cyber resilience services accessible to more businesses."

AI could make smaller businesses targets

Cybercriminals have traditionally targeted organisations that can pay substantial ransoms. AI could change that calculation by making it economical to attack businesses with much smaller potential payouts, noted Aggarwal.

"No one is immune to being attacked, no one is immune to getting breached," he said.

He explained that attackers previously needed to devote considerable resources to compromising an organisation, making smaller targets less attractive. Autonomous agents could potentially scan and attack multiple systems at a scale that would have been difficult for human operators.

That could bring India's small and medium-sized businesses into the firing line, even if they have limited digital infrastructure or relatively modest financial resources.

The executive said the growing availability of AI capabilities could allow attackers to pursue targets offering only a few thousand dollars in potential returns, rather than focusing exclusively on large ransomware payouts.

For businesses, the implication is that cybersecurity can no longer be treated solely as an issue affecting companies with substantial revenues or sensitive government contracts.

Rubrik expects managed security service providers to play a bigger role in addressing this challenge, especially since smaller companies often cannot afford dedicated cybersecurity teams.

Through such partnerships, businesses could access security and recovery capabilities as managed services rather than building and operating their own infrastructure.

Cyberattacks could unfold in less than a minute

Anneka Gupta, Chief Product Officer, Rubrik, said, "The speed of cyberattacks is becoming another concern for enterprises."

According to Gupta, the time between an intrusion and a breach, which previously could stretch into weeks, has fallen sharply. With AI-driven attacks, Rubrik estimates that the interval could shrink to less than a minute.

She added that this kind of situation challenges organisations that rely on security teams to investigate threats and manually initiate recovery procedures. Businesses must prepare for situations where prevention and detection measures fail, rather than assuming they can stop every attack.

Rubrik is incorporating AI into its recovery platform to help organisations identify affected systems, determine which data can be restored and automate parts of the recovery process.

Rubrik bets on AI agents to fight AI threats

Rubrik is expanding its Agent Cloud platform around three capabilities: visibility, runtime controls and recovery.

The first allows companies to identify which AI agents are operating within their systems and what information, applications and tools they can access.

The second introduces controls designed to prevent agents from performing actions outside their authorised responsibilities.

The third, called Agent Rewind, is intended to help organisations reverse actions taken by agents, including unintended deletion or modification of information.

For example, an AI assistant instructed to organise an employee's calendar might interpret the request incorrectly and delete appointments. Rubrik says its platform helps organisations identify such actions and restore affected information.

The company is also developing Code Guardian, a security capability intended to identify vulnerabilities in software code before attackers can exploit them.

Unlike conventional vulnerability scanning, the approach is designed to examine how multiple weaknesses could be combined to create an attack path.

Rubrik said the system would analyse isolated copies of code rather than operating directly within customers' production environments. Human review remains part of the process.

India becomes a major development centre

India is central to Rubrik's expansion plans, both as a technology development hub and as a market for its security offerings.

The company said it employs more than 1,200 people in Bengaluru out of a global workforce of approximately 4,000. It has also opened an office in Pune.

According to Agrawal more than half of the company's research and development investment is now directed towards India.

Rubrik said its Indian teams handle entire product development cycles, from initial design and engineering to testing and bringing products to market.

The company is also increasing investments in partner training, certifications, technical support and joint customer engagements.

Indian government needs to act, says Rubrik

Rubrik also called for governments, including India, to update cybersecurity guidance to address threats arising from AI adoption.

Responding to a question about India's preparedness, Agrawal said existing regulatory frameworks were not necessarily designed for an environment in which autonomous software agents could identify and exploit vulnerabilities.

"The threat is real. The danger is very clear and present," he said.

He argued that governments should initially issue guidance to help businesses understand and manage AI-related risks, rather than waiting for comprehensive regulations that could take considerably longer to develop.

Rubrik said it has worked with governments in several countries on cybersecurity maturity frameworks and is also engaging with the Indian government.

The company believes the growing use of AI will require organisations to treat recovery capabilities as an essential part of technology investment, alongside infrastructure, software development and cybersecurity prevention.

As enterprises deploy more AI agents across their operations, Rubrik expects the ability to monitor their actions, restrict access and reverse unintended changes to become a significant part of corporate security planning.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.