Airtel Business bags multi-year contract to build cybersecurity ecosystem for Indian Railways

Airtel Business on Monday said it has won a multi-year contract from the Indian Railway Security Operations Centre (IRSOC) to design, build and operate a comprehensive cybersecurity protection system to safeguard the digital backbone of Indian Railways.

Under the agreement, Airtel will establish a greenfield, multi-layered, 24x7 cybersecurity ecosystem to ensure uninterrupted, secure and seamless digital operations across the rail network.

Indian Railways supports over 13,000 trains daily, serves more than 20 million passengers and handles millions of digital transactions every day, besides transporting 1.5 billion tonnes of freight annually.

“Safeguarding this immense flow of critical data including sensitive customer identities, payment details, as well as key operational databases for ticketing, train tracking, freight and signalling is crucial in today’s era of intensifying cyber threats,” the company said in a statement.

The cybersecurity framework will combine global technologies with cutting-edge Make in India solutions to deliver a sovereign, AI-embedded, and compliant security architecture tailored for critical infrastructure.

Sharat Sinha, CEO and Director of Airtel Business, said, “We are honoured to be chosen by IRSOC as their trusted partner to fortify the security of India’s most complex and large-scale digital infrastructure.”

“Our robust security layer will advance security efficiency in ticketing and data management, shield all railway digital operations from evolving cyber threats while delivering safe and seamless digital services to millions of daily railway commuters,” he added.

Dilip Kumar, Executive Director (Information & Planning), Railway Board, said the establishment of IRSOC will help in providing a centralised Security Operations Centre to continuously monitor assets, detect and respond to cyber threats, and collaborate with national cybersecurity agencies.

“With increased reliance on digital technologies for operations, maintenance and procurement, cybersecurity is of utmost importance,” Kumar added.

Airtel said the IRSOC project will deliver unified compliance dashboards, advanced endpoint protection, real-time patch and vulnerability management across over 190,000 critical infrastructure assets, and AI-driven monitoring systems capable of detecting threats in under 20 seconds.

The telecom major said over a billion Indians will ultimately benefit from enhanced data security across digital railway services such as ticket booking, payments, train tracking and freight management.