Cyber chief warns of AI-powered ransomware on infrastructure by 2028
The National Cyber Security Centre judges it “highly likely” that AI-powered malware will be used in a ransomware attack on Britain’s critical infrastructure by 2028. Its chief executive, Richard Horne, said this week’s hacking of supermarket freezers across Europe was “just the foothills”. “For decades, we have collectively got away with doing tech on the cheap,” he said.
Mr Horne stressed that AI had not invented new attacks, but meant that “vulnerabilities that have been tolerated for far too long can now be discovered and exploited at a scale that was once unimaginable”. He said Russia was making sustained attempts to penetrate British military networks and Iran was conducting malicious operations against the UK, while China posed “the most sophisticated and sustained cyber challenge”. The freezer attacks hit shops from Sweden to Belgium and France, forcing them to throw away food. John Healey announced £60m last week for the first phase of a national Cyber Shield. Moscow, Beijing and Tehran have denied similar accusations.