Pune: Cyber threats to democracy will intensify significantly over the next 10 to 20 years, with information warfare emerging as a critical national security challenge, said Brijesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Government Of Maharashtra.
Speaking at the IdentityShield Summit 2026 in Pune, Singh stressed that future defence strategies must extend beyond physical borders to include digital infrastructure, financial systems, corporate networks, and national resilience against disinformation, adding that protecting trust is as vital as protecting territory.
Highlighting how deeply interconnected modern systems have become, Singh noted that nearly everything today is software-controlled, turning the world into a cyber-physical ecosystem.
Citing global examples, he explained how advanced defence systems can be neutralised remotely by disabling radar networks, defence batteries, and even national power grids before any physical operation begins. Such incidents, he said, underline how cyber capabilities can precede and determine outcomes in conventional conflicts.
He compared this evolving reality to a world where digital control determines physical outcomes, warning that democracies are especially vulnerable.
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Cyber Threats to Democracy: Disinformation Campaigns Undermining Trust
According to Singh, democratic systems – while open, accountable, and rule-bound – often lack the aggressive cyber-offensive tools available to totalitarian regimes, making them slower to respond to coordinated digital attacks.
Singh warned that cyber threats to democracy are increasingly driven by large-scale disinformation campaigns designed to erode trust in institutions, including defence forces, police, judiciary, governance systems, and even cultural identity.
He pointed out that bot-driven influence operations originating from outside India actively participate in online debates on sensitive issues such as caste, national security, and military operations.
He cited instances where false narratives were pushed during major national security events, leading to confusion and mistrust among citizens. “When truth becomes the casualty, trust collapses, and over time people begin to believe fabricated narratives,” he cautioned.
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Cyber Threats to Democracy: India’s Digital Growth Increases Cyber Risk
As one of the fastest-digitising nations globally, India has built an ecosystem where governance, financial services, and daily transactions are predominantly digital.
Singh highlighted that systems such as UPI, which have scaled beyond global payment networks in transaction volume, now form part of India’s critical digital infrastructure – making them attractive targets for hostile cyber actors.
He noted that while democracies operate under strong regulatory oversight, non-democratic states can more easily deploy large cyber units focused on disrupting power grids, financial systems, and communication networks, further amplifying Cyber threats to democracy.
Cyber Threats to Democracy: Global Influence Operations and Anti-India Narratives
Singh also drew attention to growing anti-India sentiment globally, driven largely through subtle and sustained disinformation campaigns.
According to him, as India’s economic growth accelerates and its global relevance increases, it has become a target for narrative warfare aimed at shaping public perception through stereotypes, misinformation, and cultural distortion.
He explained that influence-building efforts through media, lobbying, and academic funding have become key tools used by certain regimes to shape global discourse, despite lacking democratic values themselves.
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Trust, Elections, and Democratic Institutions
Addressing concerns around electoral integrity, Singh said recurring claims about electronic voting machines being hackable contribute to public doubt without evidence.
He explained that EVMs function as standalone, hard-coded devices without network connectivity and have been subjected to public testing exercises without successful breaches.
He cautioned that repeatedly questioning systems without proof only fuels mistrust – one of the primary objectives of information warfare.
Preparing for the Next Two Decades
Concluding, Singh reiterated that cyber threats to democracy will remain a defining challenge for the next 10–20 years. He emphasised the need for comprehensive defence strategies that secure digital infrastructure, financial ecosystems, corporate networks, and public trust.
In an era where cyberattacks and disinformation can weaken nations without firing a single shot, safeguarding trust, he said, is central to national security.
