Britain's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has cautioned that the UK could face coordinated hacktivist attacks if drawn into a conflict, with effects comparable to the ransomware incidents that have already disrupted major British companies including Marks & Spencer and Royal Mail. NCSC chief executive Richard Horne, speaking at the annual CyberUK conference in Glasgow, warned that such attacks would carry the same sophistication as ransomware but without the option of paying a ransom to restore systems. Horne described the current environment as a "perfect storm" of rapid technological change and rising geopolitical tensions, and urged both public and private organisations to embed cybersecurity into their core operations — particularly as AI tools capable of rapidly identifying system vulnerabilities become more widely available.