LONDON — The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has warned that AI-powered malware is "highly likely" to be used in ransomware attacks against the country's critical national infrastructure by 2028, the organization's annual review said Tuesday. The warning from the NCSC, part of GCHQ, underscores growing concerns about the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Russia and China will start using AI routinely in cyber-attacks, the review said. NCSC Chief Executive Richard Horne will warn the public in a speech that the country faces a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in cyber incidents in the coming months. "In the coming months, we face a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in the number of cyber incidents," Horne said. Horne attributed the threat to AI's ability to uncover weaknesses in IT systems that have been tolerated for far too long. An example of AI's capacity to root out previously undetected vulnerabilities came last month, when the technology helped discover a critical weakness in PHP, a computer language used by almost 70% of the world's websites. After gaining access to a victim's IT systems, ransomware attackers encrypt files with bespoke malicious software and demand payment in cryptocurrency to unlock crippled systems. UK ransomware victims have included Royal Mail, outsourcing firm Capita and various public bodies, including councils. The NCSC's annual review also warns that communications networks used by the British military are subjected to daily attacks that are persistent and sustained. Horne will say Russia was one of the perpetrators, but the attacks have deliberately not crossed the line into warfare, with Moscow carrying out notable campaigns that intentionally fall below the threshold of armed conflict as they escalate their attempts at hybrid warfare. Recent cyber-attacks on supermarket fridges in Europe, which have seen fridge temperatures raised by hackers to more than 50C, are a warning to companies and organisations to invest strongly in cyber resilience. For decades, Horne will say, we have collectively got away with tech on the cheap. The warning comes as the UK government last month launched its Be Ready campaign, urging households to stock up to nine litres of bottled water and three days' worth of food to ensure they can survive a weather, cyber or other serious emergency. Leading AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic have given some companies advanced access to their most powerful models to help them identify serious IT glitches. So far, the threat has not resulted in attacks that cross the threshold into armed conflict, but the NCSC says the risk is growing as AI capabilities advance.