Davos 2026: Cyber-enabled fraud is India’s most urgent digital risk, says WEF’s Akshay Joshi

WEF's head of centre for cybersecurity Akshay Joshi at the World Economic Forum event in Davos on January 19

Cyber-enabled fraud is emerging as one of the most serious and underestimated digital threats facing India, according to Akshay Joshi, Head of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity.

Speaking to Moneycontrol at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Joshi said cyber fraud now affects individuals and enterprises alike.

"It's affecting CEOs and households," he said, pointing to survey data showing that 73 per cent of respondents had either personally experienced cyber-enabled fraud or knew someone who had.

In the Indian context, the scale of the problem is already significant.

Citing data from the India Cybercrime Coordination Centre, Joshi said that roughly Rs 53,000 crore has been lost to fraud over the past six years — a period when artificial intelligence was not yet widely deployed.

The concern, he said, is what happens as AI becomes more accessible to malicious actors.

"We know for a fact that bad actors are the first to latch on to technologies to enhance their exploits," Joshi said.

He also warned that AI could sharply increase the speed and sophistication of fraud, particularly in a country with nearly one billion internet users.

While welcoming India’s efforts to bring together the AI ecosystem through initiatives such as the upcoming AI summit, Joshi stressed that cybersecurity cannot be treated as an afterthought.

"We need to make sure that we are embracing AI while ensuring security is top notch," he said.