{"id":544378,"date":"2026-04-22T09:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/544378\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T09:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:25:08","slug":"uk-could-face-hacktivist-attacks-at-scale-says-head-of-security-agency-cybercrime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/544378\/","title":{"rendered":"UK could face \u2018hacktivist attacks at scale\u2019, says head of security agency | Cybercrime"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK could face \u201chacktivist attacks at scale\u201d if it becomes embroiled in a conflict and the impact could be similar to recent high-profile ransomware incidents<\/a>, according to the head of the country\u2019s online security agency.<\/p>\n

Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), will warn today that nation states now account for the most significant incidents the NCSC deals with.<\/p>\n

\u201cWere we to be in, or near, a conflict situation, the UK would likely face hacktivist attacks at scale. With similar effects and sophistication to the ransomware attacks we see today. But \u2026 no option to pay a ransom to help recover,\u201d the NCSC chief will say in a speech on Wednesday opening the annual CyberUK conference in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

Ransomware gangs \u2013 who demand a payment in exchange for unlocking IT systems they have encrypted \u2013 have hit a host of British targets in recent years including Marks & Spencer<\/a>, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Royal Mail. In the case of JLR, the as-yet-unattributed attack slowed growth in the UK economy<\/a> by hitting car production.<\/p>\n

Every public and private sector organisation needs to focus on cybersecurity in the face of such a threat, said Horne, whose agency is part of GCHQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefending against that means every organisation embedding cybersecurity into their corporate mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnsuring they understand the full extent of risk they face, build defence in depth so that initial footholds by an attacker don\u2019t result in catastrophic impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to a typical resolution of ransomware attacks, where organisations pay to unlock encrypted IT systems, Horne said the UK should prepare for a future<\/a> where \u201cpaying their way out just isn\u2019t an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NCSC chief echoed the warning last year from Blaise Metreweli<\/a>, the chief of UK spy agency MI6, who said the country was caught in \u201ca space between peace and war\u201d as tensions mount with Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be clear, cyberspace is part of that contest,\u201d said Horne. \u201cWe\u2019re in a perfect storm. With the two forces of rapid technological change and rising geopolitical tensions creating what feels like tumultuous uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to the development of Mythos, a new AI model that can discover hacker-friendly vulnerabilities in systems at speed, Horne said frontier AI \u2013 the term for cutting-edge versions of the technology \u2013 will expose organisations that are not repairing gaps in their cybersecurity or updating old systems.<\/p>\n

Horne said the country was not seeing significant new attacks due to advanced AI systems but it must head off the threat by embracing AI as a means of defending against attackers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK could face \u201chacktivist attacks at scale\u201d if it becomes embroiled in a conflict and the impact…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-544378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}