Key Highlights:
- The UK’s NCSC says an AI-based cyberattack on critical national infrastructure is highly likely by 2028.
- China is considered the country best positioned to use AI in cyber operations against Britain’s strategic targets, while Russia and Iran also pose cybersecurity concerns.
- NCSC Chief Executive Richard Horne has urged organisations to address longstanding technology and security weaknesses before they are exploited at scale.
The United Kingdom is facing an escalating cybersafety threat as AI makes it easier for hostile actors to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in digital systems. The National Cyber Security Centre ( NCSC) has advised that Britain should brace for an AI-based cyberattack. The attack will target critical national infrastructure within the next two years. The warning emphasizes concerns about weaknesses across essential services, businesses and technology supply chains that could become susceptible to AI-based attacks.
NCSC Chief Executive Richard Horne has urged organizations to strengthen cybersecurity measures, warning that years of underinvestment has left parts of Britain’s digital infrastructure exposed.
Why is the UK Warning About AI-Based Cyberattacks?
In its yearly report, the NCSC said it was highly possible that a ransomware attack involving AI malware would occur against Britain’s critical infrastructure by 2028. The agency also advised that hostile actors were expected to use AI to increase the magnitude of their cyber activities during the same period. Richard Horne, chief executive of the NCSC said organisations and supply chains had spent substantial amounts of time depending on poor technology and cybersecurity investments.
He argued that too many businesses had effectively been “doing tech on the cheap”, leaving weaknesses that attackers could exploit. “In the coming months, we face a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in the number of cyber incidents,” Horne is expected to say in his speech.
Britain should be prepared for an AI-powered cyberattack on its critical national infrastructure in the next two years, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre said, adding that China was likely the best equipped to conduct such operations https://t.co/chzxx5XfYq
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 3, 2026
However, he stressed that AI was not necessarily creating entirely new methods of cyberattacks. Instead, the technology was making it feasible to identify and nitpick weaknesses easily. 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,” he said.
Which Countries Does the NCSC Identify as Major Cybersecurity Threats?
The NCSC identifies China of being the most significant state-linked cybersecurity challenge facing the UK. They argue that Beijing has both the intention and technical capabilities to use AI against critical national infrastructure and other strategic targets.
“We know that China highly likely has the intent and is best positioned to use AI for operations against our critical national infrastructure and other strategic targets with their activity representing the most sophisticated and sustained cyber challenge the UK faces,” Horne is expected to say.
The report also talked about cyber operations associated with Russia and Iran. Horne said Russia was making sustained attempts to penetrate British military networks, while Iran was conducting malicious cyber activities globally, including against the UK and individuals it considers threats. However, the evaluation does not indicate that every cyber incident targeting Britain will necessarily be state-sponsored or AI-based cyberattack. Rather, it points to the growing range of threats facing the country’s digital infrastructure.
Horne said organisations needed to take action before weaknesses resulted in serious consequences. He advised that businesses could eventually be forced to explain why they ignored known risks if cyberattacks caused food shortages, power disruptions or business failures. His message was that firms already have enough context to understand the threat and should not wait for a major incident before improving their security.
The warning places extra pressure on British conglomerates to strengthen their technology infrastructure, review supply-chain security and brace for attacks that could become swifter and more sophisticated through artificial intelligence.
