NCSC warns of AI-powered ransomware threat to UK infrastructure

The UK’s critical national infrastructure should prepare for a ransomware attack involving AI-powered malware by 2028, the National Cyber Security Centre warns. Its State of the Cyber Nation report says hostile actors’ adoption of AI is “highly likely” to increase the scale and efficiency of ransomware attacks, social engineering and vulnerability exploitation within the next two years.

NCSC chief executive Dr Richard Horne is expected to warn that the immediate danger comes from longstanding vulnerabilities becoming easier to discover and exploit, rather than AI inventing new attack methods. He will urge organisations to address technology underinvestment, remove unnecessary internet connections and treat Cyber Essentials as a starting point, building further resilience according to their size, complexity and risk.

The agency also sees AI as an opportunity to strengthen cyber defence, provided organisations address foundational weaknesses and use existing security tools, standards and frameworks. Government investment includes £60 million for the first phase of a national Cyber Shield and £70 million for a National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre to identify weaknesses across critical infrastructure and the economy. A new NCSC-run AI Cyber Security Centre of Excellence in Manchester will develop government expertise, alongside the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill and forthcoming National Cyber Action Plan.