Cyber experts warn of AI-powered attacks on critical infrastructure by 2028

The UK’s critical infrastructure should be braced for an AI-powered attack within the next two years, according to a new report.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said AI adoption by hostile actors was “highly likely” to increase the scale and efficiency of their operations, including ransomware attacks, social engineering, and vulnerability exploitation.

Part of intelligence agency GCHQ, the NCSC’s State of the Cyber Nation report says the ongoing AI revolution should force UK organisations to reckon with the current state of their cyber security, as new technologies will expose vulnerabilities, failings and underinvestment at an unprecedented speed and scale in the years ahead.

Richard Horne, NCSC chief executive, said AI also represented an opportunity to improve the UK’s collective cyber resilience.

“In the coming months, we face a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in the number of cyber incidents,” Horne said.

“But we must be clear that is not because AI has invented new ways to attack us. But because vulnerabilities that have been tolerated for far too long can now be discovered and exploited at a scale that was once unimaginable.

“For decades, we have collectively got away with doing tech on the cheap.”

The warning came as a cyber attack hit fridges across Europe, leading to empty shelves and food estimated to be worth millions of euros going to waste.

Last week, Chancellor John Healey announced greater investment in capabilities to help the UK harness AI for cyber defence, including £60m for developing the first phase of a national Cyber Shield, £70m for a new National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre to identify vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure and the economy, and a new AI Cyber Security Centre of Excellence, ran by the National Cyber Security Centre, in Manchester to develop world leading AI security expertise within government.

Security minister Dan Jarvis: “In their tenth year, the National Cyber Security Centre plays a more important role than ever before, defending our security on the cyber frontline.

“The NCSC's latest annual report shows cyber threats are growing more sophisticated. We're using the power of AI to help stay ahead of those who seek to do us harm, with a new national Cyber Shield and an AI Cyber Security Centre of Excellence.”