'Hacktivist attacks at scale’: UK could face hacktivist threats akin to some of the biggest ransomware incidents but with 'no option to pay a ransom to help recover'

• UK NCSC chief warns of 'hacktivist attacks at scale'
• Attacks could rival recent ransomware attacks against UK organizations
• Defences could be bolstered by AI tools such as Claude Mythos

If a conflict were to unfold between the UK and a foreign state, there could be "hacktivist attacks at scale", rivalling some of the most prolific attacks the UK has seen in recent years.

The comments come from Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), who is warning of the scale of attacks at the CyberUK conference in Glasgow.

“Were 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 … no option to pay a ransom to help recover,” Horne said in his opening speech.

Hacktivism that rivals ransomware attacks

The UK has experienced several especially damaging cyber attacks over the past 12 months, with food retailers M&S and Co-op suffering a joint attack by Scattered Spider, and the attack against Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) proving to be one of the costliest in UK history.

The NCSC chief’s warning would suggest that groups could launch attacks of a similar scale and damage, and that organizations face a future where “paying their way out just isn’t an option.”

Horne recommends that all UK businesses across both the public and private sectors should focus on hardening defences against threats, to the scale of “embedding cybersecurity into their corporate mission.”

“Ensuring they understand the full extent of risk they face, build defence in depth so that initial footholds by an attacker don’t result in catastrophic impact,” Horne added.

Horne also stated that the development of AI models, such as Claude Mythos, that are capable of identifying zero-days in software could be a ‘net positive’ for UK cyber defence, should they prove secure.

Graeme Stewart, Head of Public Sector, Check Point Software said, “At a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, the rise of growing volumes of increasingly sophisticated AI-powered cyber attacks and unbreakable ransomware could bring the country to its knees. Large scale hacktivist attacks pose an existential threat to UK PLC, with hostile powers seeking to damage and disrupt core services like the NHS, energy and supply chains.”

“Our own research shows that the UK is one of the most targeted nations in the world when it comes to cyber attacks. There can be no delay on our response to this threat, we need an urgent national conversation about how to build cyber resilience into both the public and private sector. Ramping up cyber should be at the very top of the boardroom agenda, with defences strengthened immediately,” Stewart concluded.

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