Microsoft UK security chief warns AI cyber threats are already here as phishing persists

The report found that as AI becomes more widely available, the barrier to entry into cybercrime is being lowered, allowing hackers to launch a record number of campaigns against consumers and businesses. The UK was the most targeted country in Europe for nation-state and geopolitical cyber activity, with 76 observed events in the past year, and ranked fifth globally for countries where customers are most frequently affected by cyber threats, according to the report.

Davies said the AI threat has been building as attackers use automation for more advanced attacks, with "swarm attacks" becoming more common as attackers direct agents to carry out work. He said technology, compute and storage are catching up with attackers' ambitions, while defenders are also embracing AI. "The opportunity with agentic AI is to elevate the human up into the orchestration," he said.

Microsoft is also using its own AI tools such as Copilot to support its digital crimes unit, TechRadar reported. Still, basic scams remain effective. The report found phishing attacks rose globally from 7% to 23% of incident-response intrusions year over year, with fake meeting invitations and calendar markers among the scams on the rise. Davies said criminals are gathering information on specific C-suite individuals to a new high to persuade them to click links. "An attacker has no ethical line," he said. "Phishing...is still the front door for any organization...with AI on its side, it's only going to get more real and harder to detect."

Davies said responsibility for awareness should be shared between individuals and the organization, meaning employer phishing tests are likely to remain. He said the point of such exercises is to educate staff about attackers' methods and that people should not be embarrassed if they click a link in a test. "It's everyone's responsibility to put a seat belt on," he said, adding that security can be "the seatbelt for AI transformation."

He said security has to be embedded from board level through the C-suite and down to employees, and trained from frontline staff. With more cybersecurity stories in headlines, more C-suite executives are aware of the need for protection and are asking CISOs what they plan to do and how the organization can recover if the worst happens, Davies said. "We're having these conversations quite regularly," he said.