Minister says a serious cyber breach is 'extremely likely'

UK’s AI minister Kanishka Narayan warned Tuesday that a serious cyber breach is “extremely likely” soon, affecting both the public and private sectors. Speaking at a Bloomberg Tech event in London, Narayan said neither government bodies nor businesses are prepared, echoing a broader concern after remarks from Richard Horne, head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, who said some British firms were “willfully blind” to threats from Russia, Iran and China. The warning came hours after a suspected supermarket freezer hack disrupted stores across Europe, with Horne saying a few UK firms were affected. Narayan linked the heightened risk to AI tools that may help hackers speed up attacks, while pointing to the AI Security Institute—funded with an additional £120M in the latest budget—as part of the response.