What if the next major security breach in your organization does not begin with malicious code, but with a message that sounds completely normal? This could be in the form of a request from a senior executive, an approval from an internal system, or a routine action generated by an AI assistant. Nothing may appear suspicious on the face of it. The tone is familiar and the timing feels right too. And that is exactly what makes it dangerous.
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes central to business transformation, a new category of threat is gradually emerging. One that does not simply target systems, but targets trust itself. Often referred to as “vibe hacking,” this form of AI-enabled manipulation uses generative tools to mimic human behaviour, communication patterns, and decision-making processes closely enough to bypass traditional security controls. For Indian businesses accelerating AI adoption, this is no longer a future concern – it is becoming a leadership issue.
Organizations are integrating AI into everyday operations across sectors including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology. It is helping teams automate workflows, improve customer experiences, streamline decision-making, and shorten development cycles. In most board meetings today, the conversation has shifted from whether to adopt AI to how quickly it can be deployed. But the race toward AI-led growth is creating a new challenge for business leaders: ensuring that security evolves at the same pace as innovation.
Recent findings reveal just how sharply this issue is emerging in India. Around 46% of Indian organizations say identity security friction has already delayed AI initiatives (the highest reported globally.) Additionally, 63% believe identity discovery gaps will continue to exist in AI-related environments.
Cybersecurity has mostly focused on the infrastructure of a company and how to defend it. Companies have heavily invested in firewalls, endpoint protection, network monitoring, and threat detection. No doubt, these measures remain essential, but AI has been changing the nature of attacks. Instead of hacking systems directly, AI can manipulate and imitate how people and businesses communicate.
For employees and even automated systems, the request can appear legitimate because the “vibe” is accurate. This represents a major shift in enterprise risk. The real concern is not just that AI can generate malicious content faster. AI can create and build real interactions which seem believable and tend to influence businesses without suspicion. Indian enterprises are taking the route of scaling digital transformation aggressively while still managing legacy security models. This puts them at a much higher risk. As per the recent study, 79% admit they accept standing access under operational pressure.
From a leadership perspective, this is not just a technology problem. It is a business resilience issue. When trust becomes a target, the impact can extend well beyond IT. This can lead to multiple issues like interruption in operations, exposed customer data, triggered compliance concerns, and damaged stakeholder confidence. For sectors that operate in tightly regulated environments, the reputational and financial consequences can be severe.
Business leaders must begin viewing identity security as a strategic business priority rather than a technical function. To fix this, here are four steps organizations can take to revamp their identity security in the age of AI:
- Neutralize vibe hacking with least privilege access: Every identity, be it human or machine, should be given minimum access just enough to perform their tasks. That way, even if attackers trickle in by manipulation, they are blocked from escalating their reach.
- Break the loop: Rotating credentials regularly hamper the automated feedback loops that many AI-enabled attacks rely on. Removing standing access to secrets prevents compromised agents from reusing stolen details.
- Close the trust gap with OTP access: Short-lived credentials eliminate one of vibe hacking’s biggest advantages: static, always-on access. By relying on purpose-built tokens that expire quickly, organizations can sharply limit how long manipulated trust can be exploited.
- Detect the “vibe”: Modern threats demand a holistic approach that goes beyond static checks, continuously analyzing behavioral and situational signals across all identities. Early spotting of subtle deviations in tone, access patterns, or task requests allow organizations to shift from reacting to incidents toward predicting and preventing them.
Finally, enterprises should invest in identity intelligence that can detect subtle changes in behaviour. Security can no longer focus only on whether access is authorized. It must also understand whether the request itself feels out of pattern. For leadership teams, the larger question is no longer whether AI introduces risk. It is whether the organization is prepared for a threat landscape where trust itself can be engineered. AI will continue to reshape how Indian businesses grow, compete, and innovate. But the same technology that enables faster decisions can also make deception harder to detect. For organizations looking to lead in an AI-driven economy, protecting digital trust may soon become just as important as protecting digital infrastructure.
Authored by Anand (Jude) Kannabiran, Vice President, Asia at Delinea