Cyber chief warns AI-powered hackers are 'highly likely' to strike Britain's power stations, airports and hospitals by 2028

Britain's National Cyber Security Centre chief Dr Richard Horne warns that 'tech on the cheap' has left UK organisations dangerously exposed, with the cyber threat now growing faster than defensive capabilities. Russia, China and Iran are named as the primary state actors set to deploy AI routinely against British targets, with Chinese activity described as the 'most sophisticated and sustained cyber challenge facing the UK'. Horne warns that leaders who fail to act will face explaining to stakeholders 'when food isn't on shelves, lights aren't on, businesses have gone under'.

The NCSC report singles out 'preventable weaknesses' — unpatched software and poor passwords — as leaving critical sites needlessly vulnerable.

AI will not invent new attack methods, Horne says, but will let hostile actors find and exploit LONGSTANDING flaws 'at a scale that was once unimaginable'.

Security minister Dan Jarvis backed the warning, urging all organisations to treat security as a 'fundamental requirement, not an afterthought'.