AI-powered malware ‘highly likely’ to be used to hack UK infrastructure by 2028
The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has assessed it as highly likely that AI-powered malware will be used to attack critical national infrastructure — including power stations, airports, and hospitals — before 2028, with ransomware seen as a probable vector.
Why this matters: This is not a hypothetical. A government cybersecurity body is saying AI-assisted ransomware hitting hospitals or power grids is the expected outcome, not the worst case. When hospitals go offline, patients are rerouted, surgeries are delayed, and people get hurt. The timeline is short. Four years is not long to harden systems that were often built decades ago and patched together since. The real accountability question is whether the agencies and companies running that infrastructure are investing accordingly, or waiting to respond after something breaks.
Who should care: Cybersecurity · Privacy officers · Administrators · General readers · AI governance · Policy
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