92% of Indian firms view GenAI tools as potential security risk

Bengaluru: As Generative AI tools take centre stage in India's digital economy, at least 92 per cent of organisations consider GenAI to be a potential security risk, a new report showed on Wednesday.

While 95 per cent of organisations in India are using GenAI tools in some form, 75 per cent of them admit lack of skill or talent for not yet using GenAI tools like ChatGPT, according to the report by Cloud security provider Zscaler.

About 71 per cent in India agree that IT teams, not general employees, emerge as the overwhelming force behind usage. "Our survey underscores the dynamism of GenAI adoption, highlighting the need to sharpen focus on both Zero trust principles and skill development to unlock the full potential of GenAI technology," said Sudip Banerjee, CTO, APJ, Zscaler.

"Therefore, integrating a zero-trust solution can provide full control over technology's usage per user and application, allowing organisations to maintain a secure and controlled environment," he added.

In a worryingly trend, 22 per cent of those surveyed are not monitoring the GenAI usage at all, and 36 per cent have yet to implement any additional GenAI-related security measures, though many have it on their roadmap.

"With the current ambiguity surrounding their (GenAI tools) security measures, a mere 30 per cent of organisations in India perceive their adoption as an opportunity rather than a threat," said Sanjay Kalra, VP Product Management at Zscaler.

"This not only jeopardises their business and customer data integrity, but also squanders their tremendous potential," he noted.

Despite mainstream awareness, it is not employees who appear to be the driving force behind current interest and usage - only 3 per cent of respondents in India said it stemmed from employees. Instead, 71 per cent said usage was being driven by the IT teams directly in India.

"The fact that IT teams are at the helm should offer a sense of reassurance to business leaders," Kalra said.

With 75 per cent of respondents in India anticipating a significant increase in the interest of GenAI tools before the end of the year, organisations need to act quickly to close the gap between use and security, the report mentioned.