The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned that it is “highly likely AI malware will be used in a ransomware attack on UK critical national infrastructure (CNI)” and the head of the centre said it could happen within two years.
The warning was shared in the NCSC’s annual State of the Cyber Nation report, which was published today (3 November).
In last week’s Budget, the government announced £70M for a new National Exposure and Real-Time Vulnerability (Nerv) Centre, which will be part of the NCSC.
Nerv will “identify vulnerabilities across critical infrastructure”, according to the NCSC.
In its report published today, the NCSC said: “The cyber threat to the UK’s CNI remains enduring. The NCSC continued to observe activity affecting CNI and its supporting ecosystem, including activity believed to be linked to nation states.
“Such activity may be intended to gather intelligence, gain access to sensitive networks, or establish a foothold in systems of strategic interest.”
It went on to single out threats posed by Russia and China.
“Russian hacking groups engage in offensive cyber operations in Ukraine, including disrupting power generation,” it said.
“Critical infrastructure and government institutions continue to be targeted by state actors, including a massive breach of government personnel records.”
In August, it was reported that hackers linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were understood to have successfully shut down a “small” UK power station.
The NCSC report added: “China highly likely has the intent and is best positioned to use AI for operations against critical national infrastructure and other strategic targets.”
“The development of its own frontier AI capability programmes will almost certainly allow China to improve the identification of vulnerabilities, increase targeting efficiency and enhance access operations against critical national infrastructure and other strategic targets.”
At an event about today’s report, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) CEO Richard Horne is expected to say: “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 said: “For decades, we have collectively got away with doing tech on the cheap.”
Horne continued: “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.”
The warnings from the NCSC come as fridges and freezers in continental European supermarkets were deliberately switched to overheat and ruin food in a cyberattack this week.Like what you’ve read? To receive New Civil Engineer’s daily and weekly newsletters click here.
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