Britain's cyber chief warns Russia and China are 'highly likely' to hit power stations, airports and hospitals with AI attacks by 2028

Richard Horne, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, says it is 'highly likely' Russia and China will deploy AI-powered ransomware against British critical infrastructure within two years. He warned of an 'unprecedented rise' in the sophistication and scale of such attacks, with power stations, airports and hospitals named as prime targets. The warning came in Horne's annual threat assessment published Tuesday morning.

The NCSC expects AI to lower the barrier for hostile states to launch complex, disruptive attacks that previously required far greater technical resources.

Jaguar Land Rover is among recent high-profile victims of state-linked cyber intrusions, illustrating the breadth of targets beyond government systems.

UK cyber consulting firms are forecast to see explosive growth as businesses scramble to harden defences ahead of the 2028 threat window.