Technopark-based AI platform claims to have thwarted cyberattacks during India-Pak stand-off

The Hindu

20-05-2025

Prophaze Technologies, a leading cybersecurity company headquartered in the Technopark here, has claimed to have successfully neutralised a series of large-scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks targeting India's high-value installations during the recent stand-off with Pakistan.
The AI-powered Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) platform by Prophaze, deployed across key sectors, played a vital role in countering cyberattacks aimed at disrupting major installations like airports and financial institutions, according to a statement issued by the Technopark on Tuesday.
DDoS means disruption of the traffic of websites or networks with an overwhelming amount of Internet traffic, like traffic snarls.
Between May 5 and 9, multiple waves of DDoS attacks were detected from globally distributed botnets with traffic volumes peaking at 85 million malicious requests within a 10-hour window on May 9, signalling a dramatic escalation in cyberthreats targeting India's critical infrastructure. Hacktivist groups such as AnonSec, Sylhet Gang (SG), and Dienet publicly claimed responsibility for attempting to take down Indian government services.
Vaisakh T.R., CEO and founder, Prophaze, said, 'Despite the scale and aggression of these attacks, there was zero downtime. All systems remained operational - denying attackers the disruption they intended. The first wave hit late May 5, targeting a major Indian airport. Prophaze's threat intelligence team identified consistent track IP patterns and unusual behaviours in real time, spanning globally,' he is quoted saying in the statement.
This was not the first time Prophaze safeguarded national infrastructure.
In April 2023, large-scale DDoS attacks on six major Indian airports and hospitals were neutralised through Prophaze's intelligent Layer 7 mitigation systems, minimising disruption and restoring operations swiftly.
Hacker group Anonymous Sudan had targeted the websites of major airports and hospitals, attempting to cause DDoS at these establishments.
According to Lakshmi Das, COO & co-founder of Prophaze, this recent attack was significantly more intense than the campaign by Anonymous Sudan in 2023.
Ms. Das said, 'We had already implemented proactive defences leveraging our deployments within the sector, giving us a strategic edge to respond instantly and effectively.' In this latest attack, geo-fencing, IP profiling, and behavioural analysis enabled the start-up to isolate and neutralise the latest threat in record time, the statement said.
By identifying repeated fingerprinting patterns across globally distributed botnets and applying custom WAF rules with real-time anomaly detection, the platform halted the attack within hours, it said.
While some regional spikes in traffic were observed across India, critical operations remained uninterrupted, especially at high-value digital entry points.
Founded in 2019 and incubated by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), Prophaze began its journey by securing a cloud-based HR solution provided by a third-party vendor for Bank of America to meet strict compliance requirements.
MS. Das said, 'Prophaze was the world's first cybersecurity product company to deliver a Kubernetes-based Web Application Firewall (WAF) to an enterprise to address real-world security threats. We've continued to push boundaries recognised as a Representative Vendor in Gartner's 2025 Market Guide for WAAP and earlier, in 2024, for API Protection as well.' The company has also built strategic partnerships with leading global technology players, including Keltron, Deloitte, and Intel.
'We aim to become India's first cybersecurity unicorn. Our mission is to build globally competitive, AI-driven security systems rooted in trust and precision,' she said.
The startup has 100-plus clients across the world with a global presence in the US, Australia, West Asia, and beyond, the statement said.