And regulators are sounding the alarm. SEBI just launched an IT Resilience Index to measure cyber readiness, while RBI brought in a ‘kill switch’ idea for fraud victims. Deepfake scams, AI-powered phishing, and algorithmic frauds are forcing a complete rethink of how banks and markets protect themselves. The real wake-up call? Traditional cyber rules can’t keep up. AI attacks happen at machine speed; so defenses must too. That means not just more rules, but smarter, faster, adaptive systems with human accountability baked in. If you’re in finance, tech, or even just a bank account holder; this isn’t just IT jargon. It’s your money, your identity, your trust at stake. The race isn’t between companies anymore; it’s between regulators and machines. And the clock is ticking.