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

Richard Horne, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, says Britain's cyber resilience is 'not where it should be', with organisations that have 'got away with tech on the cheap' risking being unable to explain why 'food isn't on the shelves, lights aren't on, businesses have gone under'. Released today, the NCSC's annual State of the Cyber Nation report warns that Russia and China will begin using AI 'routinely' to pursue their geopolitical goals, with Chinese activity already judged the 'most sophisticated and sustained cyber challenge facing the UK'.

AI will help attackers scout targets, find network weaknesses and write malicious code at a scale 'once unimaginable'.

Russia is deliberately conducting cyber campaigns calibrated to avoid triggering armed conflict, while Iran is targeting UK-based individuals it considers a threat to its regime.

Last week, AI-assisted discovery exposed critical flaws in a programming language used by 70% of websites globally, prompting urgent security updates.