Britain’s cybersecurity agency has raised concerns about the threat artificial intelligence poses to the upcoming national election. They highlighted the increasing difficulty in tracking cyberattacks by hostile countries and their proxies, noting the emergence of state-aligned actors as a new risk to critical national infrastructure like power, water, and internet networks.
The National Cyber Security Centre, part of Britain’s GCHQ, reported in its annual review the rise of a new class of cyber adversaries—state-aligned actors often sympathetic to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and motivated by ideology rather than financial gain. The agency emphasized the enduring and significant threat posed by states and their affiliated groups, citing instances of Russian-language criminals targeting British firms with ransomware attacks and Chinese state-affiliated cyber actors pursuing strategic goals that challenge the security and stability of UK interests.