The numbers
What the UK statistics say about AI and cyber attacks
The government survey gives solid UK figures on breaches and AI adoption. It does not measure how many attacks used AI, and it is worth being clear about that.
Last reviewed against NCSC (UK), NCSC New Zealand and UK Government (DSIT and Home Office). Sources
Headline figures
The 2025/2026 survey
The survey was published on 30 April 2026, with fieldwork from August to December 2025 [5].
| Measure | Businesses | Charities |
|---|---|---|
| Identified a breach or attack in the past 12 months | 43% | 28% |
| Experienced phishing | 38% | 25% |
| Victim of at least one cyber crime | 19% | 14% |
| Using, adopting or considering AI | 31% | 25% |
| Of those, with AI security practices | 24% | 27% |
All figures are from the survey [5].
What it does not show
Limits
How to use it
Read with care
Use the figures to size the baseline risk and to show the board that AI adoption has run ahead of controls. For direction of travel, use the NCSC's assessment, which expects AI to increase the volume and impact of intrusions [1].
See AI phishing for what to do about the most common attack.
Do not overstate
Do not describe these figures as AI attack numbers. They are all-cause UK figures with a separate measure of AI adoption.
Keep reading
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Read the guideHow CyPro can help
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