Head of GCHQ sounds alarm over spike in cyberattacks
22/10/2025 | The Record
Speaking at the Predict Europe cybersecurity conference, GCHQ Director Anne Keast-Butler warned that Britain's security agencies are facing the most "contested and complex" threat environment in decades. Keast-Butler reported a marked surge in activity, stating that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is now dealing with four times as many significant cyberattacks as it did in the previous year, equating to four major incidents a week.
Keast-Butler attributed the growing threat to nation-state cooperation, the lowering of barriers to entry for financially motivated criminals due to artificial intelligence (AI), and a pervasive increase in the country's collective exposure to the internet. Ransomware remains the most acute threat, as seen in the recent attacks on the retail sector involving Marks & Spencer, the Co-op, and Harrods.
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