UK cyber agency warns AI ransomware attack likely by 2028

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre says an AI-enabled ransomware attack on the country’s critical infrastructure by 2028 is highly likely, warning that artificial intelligence could help hostile actors exploit existing weaknesses at greater scale and speed. The forecast appears in the NCSC’s annual report, released with a warning from chief executive Richard Horne that cyber incidents could rise sharply in the coming months. That near-term increase is a prospect, not a report of a rise already observed. The agency says AI is expected to make cyber operations more efficient, primarily by accelerating the discovery and exploitation of longstanding vulnerabilities rather than creating entirely new attack methods. Horne has pointed to outdated technology and delayed security upgrades as factors that leave organisations exposed. The NCSC says known flaws in internet-facing systems can remain exploitable even when fixes are available. Its warning applies to critical infrastructure, whose digital systems support services such as electricity, water and food supply; the agency has not said that the forecast attack has occurred. The report also assesses that China is highly likely...