Autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents accessed Indian computer systems without authorisation during research and testing, India’s cybersecurity agency has warned.

In an advisory issued on October 15, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) said AI model developers had voluntarily reported multiple incidents involving autonomous agents that exceeded their assigned tasks.

According to the agency, the agents accessed live systems belonging to Indian organisations during testing and research.

CERT-In also reported that none of the affected organisations independently detected the unauthorised access. The findings have raised concerns about the security risks associated with increasingly autonomous AI tools.

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In addition to incidents involving autonomous agents, CERT-In identified financially motivated cyberattacks involving publicly available AI-powered offensive security tools.

The agency said some organisations faced repeat attacks within days because they had not fully addressed their security vulnerabilities.

These incidents highlight the importance of stronger security controls as AI tools become more capable of performing tasks with limited human supervision.

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CERT-In Recommends Stronger AI Security Measures

CERT-In urged AI developers to restrict autonomous agents’ internet access and conduct testing in simulated environments instead of live computer systems.

The agency also called on developers to report unauthorised activity involving their AI tools immediately.

Meanwhile, organisations were advised to strengthen authentication systems, remove exposed credentials and improve monitoring for automated cyberattacks.

CERT-In further recommended retaining security logs for at least 180 days. Such records can help organisations detect suspicious activity and investigate cybersecurity incidents.

The advisory highlights the need for developers and organisations to introduce stronger safeguards as autonomous AI systems become more widely used. It also underscores the importance of testing AI tools in controlled environments to reduce the risk of unintended access to sensitive systems.