NCSC Assesses Impact of AI on Cyber Threats to 2027

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recent report about AI’s impact on cyber threats to 2027 highlights an important issue…

While AI can be used to enhance security, it will equally empower adversaries.

The NCSC anticipates that the criminal use of AI will increase by 2027 as AI technologies become more prevalent across society. The report warns that AI will almost certainly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of cyber intrusions, with cyber threat actors expected to utilise AI to enhance their existing tactics and techniques. 

Furthermore, the NCSC report that the incorporation of AI models into important systems, such as critical national infrastructure (CNI), will almost certainly provide adversaries with an increased attack surface to target. 

The proliferation of open-source and commercially available AI models is expected to further fuel an increase in the intensity and impact of cyber intrusions, with AI-enabled tools also providing less sophisticated adversaries with the capability to exploit known vulnerabilities in systems that have not been updated with security patches.

The race to patch vulnerabilities before they are exploited is already a challenge. The NCSC predicts that AI will compress the window between the disclosure and exploitation of vulnerabilities even further. The NCSC also expect to see an uplift in zero-day vulnerability discovery and exploitation by 2027 from advanced threat actors with the skills to harness and fine-tune AI for exploitation purposes, with them using AI to assist with vulnerability research and exploit development.

Now, more than ever, strengthening resilience and enhancing defences against these threats is essential. Intertek can help support organisations with a comprehensive range of cyber assurance services, ranging from cyber essentials assessments and phishing campaigns up to ransomware resilience, dark web scanning and AI red teaming and governance support - AI & Cybersecurity Certification and Testing Services