AI-driven threats heighten regional focus on cyber defense
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes embedded in military operations across the Indo-Pacific, nations including Australia, India and Japan are accelerating initiatives to secure AI-enabled command and control (C2) systems against an increasingly volatile cyber threat landscape. The shift underscores the need for resilient, interoperable communications frameworks amid growing concerns over state-sponsored cyberattacks and the militarization of AI.
The proliferation of AI-enhanced cyber tools has transformed offensive and defensive operations. Advanced persistent threats, notably China’s Volt Typhoon and North Korea’s Research Center 227, exploit AI to automate reconnaissance, penetration and malware deployment targeting critical infrastructure across the region, according to threat assessments. At the same time, AI-generated phishing and deepfake attacks have surged.
India is moving toward AI-based C2 systems. “Even if full AI adoption isn’t there yet, the foundations for securing such systems are being built,” Arindrajit Basu, a nonresident fellow at New America, a United States-based think tank, told FORUM. India’s military maintains a dedicated Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), he said, and its civilian counterpart, CERT-In, is part of the global Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams network, bolstering its capacity to respond to cross-border cyber incidents.