LONDON — Britain should be prepared for an AI-powered cyberattack on its critical national infrastructure within the next two years, the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said on Tuesday, adding that China was likely the best equipped to conduct such operations. In its annual State of the Cyber Nation report, the NCSC — part of the GCHQ signals intelligence agency — said it was "highly likely" there would be a ransomware attack involving AI-powered malware by 2028 on the nation's critical infrastructure, which covers sectors including energy, transport, defence, food, health and finance.
Source: Reuters
The report warns that AI adoption by hostile actors is "highly likely" to increase the scale and efficiency of their operations over the next two years, including ransomware attacks, social engineering and vulnerability exploitation. According to reporting of the review, AI is expected to help attackers scout potential targets, locate weaknesses inside complex IT networks and write malicious code — and targets named include power stations, airports and hospitals. The review also said the NCSC handled more than 200 incidents affecting UK infrastructure and its support network in the year to May 2026, about three-quarters of them believed to be linked to state actors, The Guardian reported.
Source: NCSC
"A moment of choice": the era of 'tech on the cheap' is over
Launching the report, NCSC chief executive Dr Richard Horne said organisations had got away for decades with "doing tech on the cheap" at the expense of security. "In the coming months, we face a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in the number of cyber incidents. But we must be clear that 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 is set to say. Horne warned that leaders who fail to invest could one day have to explain themselves "when food isn't on shelves, lights aren't on, businesses have gone under", and urged organisations to make the Cyber Essentials scheme the starting point of their security, not the end goal.
Source: NCSC
Horne was also due to say that Russia was making sustained attempts to penetrate UK military networks, while Iran was carrying out malicious cyber operations globally, including against the UK and individuals seen as a threat, Reuters reported. On China, he will say: "We know that China highly likely has the intent and is best positioned to use AI for operations against our critical national infrastructure and other strategic targets, with their activity representing the most sophisticated and sustained cyber challenge the UK faces." China, Russia and Iran have all repeatedly denied similar accusations of malign cyber activity in the past.
Source: Reuters
New money for cyber defence
The warning comes alongside new government investment announced by the Chancellor last week: £60 million (yaani about 6 crore pounds) for the first phase of a national Cyber Shield, £70 million (yaani about 7 crore pounds) for a new National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (NERV) Centre to identify vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure and the economy, and a new AI Cyber Security Centre of Excellence in Manchester, run by the NCSC. The government is also bringing forward a Cyber Security and Resilience Bill and a forthcoming National Cyber Action Plan, the NCSC said. Alan Woodward, a professor of cybersecurity at the University of Surrey, said the warning underlined the need for nation states and companies to have access to cutting-edge AI technology, The Guardian reported.
Source: NCSC
The report and Horne's speech come just after hacking attacks on supermarkets across Europe exposed how a cyber incident can reach physical operations — including attacks that sent refrigeration temperatures soaring in French and other European supermarkets, raising fears over food safety and empty shelves.
Source: Reuters
Awaaz Punjab reported last week how a cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration systems in France left hundreds of stores battling soaring fridge temperatures. Read: France supermarket fridge cyberattack
Hundreds of thousands of Punjabi and Indian families live in the UK, and many work in exactly the sectors the NCSC names — the NHS, transport, logistics, food retail and finance. An AI-powered ransomware attack on a hospital, airport or power network would not be an abstract technology story for them: it would mean cancelled operations, grounded flights, empty shelves and workplaces shut down. The same warning applies in Canada and other Western countries whose critical infrastructure runs on similarly ageing, internet-connected systems.
What is solid
- The NCSC published its State of the Cyber Nation report on Tuesday, November 3, 2026
- The report says an AI-powered ransomware attack on UK critical infrastructure by 2028 is 'highly likely'
- The government has announced £60 million for a Cyber Shield's first phase and £70 million for a NERV Centre
What is only claimed
- The naming of China, Russia and Iran reflects the NCSC's assessments; all three have repeatedly denied similar accusations in the past
- The AI-powered attack is a forecast by the UK's cyber agency, not an attack that has already happened
What happens next: Horne delivers his launch speech on Tuesday, the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is due to move through the UK's legislative process, and the NCSC — now in its tenth year — says organisations must use the tools and standards that already exist to protect themselves. Whether Britain's power stations, hospitals and airports actually make those investments before 2028 is, in Horne's words, the "moment of choice" the country now faces.