THE UK faces an attack on its critical infrastructure that could wipe out food supplies and the electric grid in two years, the country’s top cyber chief warns.
Dr Richard Horne, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, will say in a speech today there is a real prospect of “when food isn’t on shelves, lights aren’t on, businesses have gone under” amid an “unprecedented” rise in hacking.
A new NCSC report warns , and will routinely use to achieve their political goals.
And Dr Horne will say that, by 2028, hostile actors’ adoption of AI is “highly likely” to increase the scale and efficiency of their attacks.
That, he will claim, 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 will call for urgent investment, saying: “For decades, we have collectively got away with doing tech on the cheap.
“We can be a nation where leaders of all organisations actively choose to invest with urgency.
“And where all organisations make security and resilience a fundamental requirement, not an afterthought.”
Security minister said: “In their tenth year, the National Cyber Security Centre plays a more important role than ever before, defending our security on the cyber front line.
“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.”
