The leaders of the cyber intelligence agencies that constitute the Five Eyes group have collectively urged businesses and governments to ready themselves for increased dangers created by powerful new technology
Artificial intelligence is increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of cyberattacks which could put government and business at significant risk within months, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance has warned.
Frontier AI models are expected to exceed current industry expectations of cyber threats, according to a joint statement issued by the leaders of the cybersecurity agencies from the governments of the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This will lower the barrier for malicious actors to attack both governments and businesses, according to the cyber chiefs – but could also be used to strengthen cyber defence.
The statement, whose signatories included Richard Horne of the National Cyber Security Centre, warned that the timeline for these more sophisticated threats was “not years, it is months”.
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It said: “We must act before and be prepared to adapt and withstand evolving threats. Cyber resilience is not an IT issue – it is central to operational continuity and market trust. Leaders who act now will reduce exposure, strengthen resilience, and build confidence with customers, partners, and investors. Those who delay will face growing and avoidable risk.”
The statement – which warned that “awhole-of-organisation and whole-of-society response is required” – added that organisations must deploy AI-supported cyber defence tools to detect vulnerabilities as early as possible, monitor unusual behaviour, and respond to incidents more quickly.
It called on leaders to limit unnecessary system access and external connectivity, reduce delays in patching, get rid of legacy systems, enforce authentication and review permissions, and prepare for incidents by testing response plans.
While “breaches will occur”, being better prepared can “prevent escalation into major operational and financial crises”, it said. Earlier this year, Horne warned the UK was facing a “perfect storm” of cybersecurity threats. Addressing the CYBERUK conference in Glasgow, he said developments in AI and geopolitical tensions were giving rising to a period of “tumultuous uncertainty”.
A version of this story originally appeared on PublicTechnology sister publication Holyrood