AI could increase the threat of global ransomware over the next two years, according to GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC).

According to a new report, AI is already being used in malicious cyber activity and will increase the volume and impact of cyber attacks in the near future.

AI lowers the barrier of entry to novice cyber criminals and allows relatively unskilled threat actors to collect the necessary information, the report said.

The NCSC said that analysis from the National Crime Agency (NCA) suggests that cyber criminals have started to develop criminal generative AI (GenAI) and are now selling it as a service. However, the report said that these are limited by the quality and quantity of data on which they are trained.

The report warned that ransomware is the most serious threat facing UK organisations and cyber criminals are adapting their business models to make them more efficient and maximise their profits.

“The emergent use of AI in cyber attacks is evolutionary not revolutionary, meaning that it enhances existing threats like ransomware but does not transform the risk landscape in the near term,” said Lindy Cameron, NCSC chief executive. “As the NCSC does all it can to ensure AI systems are secure-by-design, we urge organisations and individuals to follow our ransomware and cyber security hygiene advice to strengthen their defences and boost their resilience to cyber attacks.”

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