Russia and China are using AI to stage relentless cyberattacks against the UK
AI is increasing the speed of attacks against infrastructure in the UK but also being used to help defend against it
Top UK spy chief Paul Chichester warned that Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are all using artificial intelligence (AI) to intensify cyberattacks on the United Kingdom. AI technology provides these adversaries with the ability to attack the nation without interruption, as AI agents don't require breaks for sleep, food, or rest.
Chichester, the director of operations at the National Cyber Security Centre, said that despite the relentless threat, AI is also being utilized for defense against these attacks. The NCSC, established 10 years ago, was formed by merging various departments with similar aims to protect the UK's IT infrastructure from cyberattacks.
The cyberattacks have become a standard part of intelligence activities for nation states, Chichester claims. Moreover, the productivity of these operations is amplified with the use of AI. He warned that AI models can design and execute new types of attacks at an astonishing speed and continuously operate without rest. Traditional attacks had a limit to the intelligence they could gather, but AI can collect unlimited data, making the cyber landscape more unpredictable.
Chichester did not disclose the extent to which the UK participates in similar cyberattacks, but stated that the UK utilizes offensive cyber capabilities through the National Cyber Force, a joint operation between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ. However, the NCSC is open about its use of commercial frontier AI models in its work and in developing its own AI tools.
Written by urgent.news from New Scientist's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
