Catch up on this month’s round-up of the latest hosting and tech news. Here’s what we’ve uncovered since our last edition.
AI Threat Divide
The National Cyber Security Centre’s recent report, ‘Impact of AI on Cyber Threat from Now to 2027’, shows that cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to find vulnerabilities, research victims, create malware and improve social engineering. While only a handful of powerful state actors can currently create AI tools, many others are using readily available AI software to enhance their skills.
The NCSC adds that as businesses adopt AI into their systems and operations, attackers will try to take advantage of the larger target area. Techniques like prompt injection, together with software vulnerabilities and supply chain attacks, can already be used to exploit AI systems and access wider networks.
The NCSC warns that in the next two years, there will be a significant gap between organisations that can handle AI-related threats and those that can’t. Those that can’t are likely to experience more cyberattacks as existing methods improve and new threats emerge. Organisations are advised to recognise the threats posed by AI and update their cybersecurity strategies accordingly.
Tactile Robots
Heralded as a major advancement in robotics, retail giant, Amazon, has recently launched an innovative warehouse robot, named Vulcan, whose tactile sensing capabilities enable it to ‘feel’ the items it touches. Unlike older models that relied on suction and visual recognition, Vulcan uses AI-driven touch sensing technology to identify and handle approximately 75% of the products found in warehouses.
Unveiled at the ‘Delivering the Future’ event held in Germany, Vulcan’s primary purpose is to assist human workers and reduce their physical workload by placing items on various shelves. Amazon was keen to stress that rather than replacing human employees, Vulcan is designed to complement workers’ activities by taking over repetitive tasks and providing more time for managing operations and addressing challenges.
Amazon plans to deploy Vulcan globally over the next few years as part of its strategy to improve efficiency and safety within its fulfilment centres.
AI Consult Launch
The UK government is to launch a new AI tool, called Consult, in a bid to speed up the analysis of public consultation feedback, cut costs and save staff time. This follows an initial trial for the Scottish government where the tool analysed over 2,000 responses to non-surgical cosmetic procedures, successfully matching human analysis and highlighting key themes for experts to consider.
With around 500 public consultations carried out annually, Consult, which is part of an even larger AI system called Humphrey, is expected to save 75,000 hours of civil servant time and save the taxpayers £20 million a year.
While Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle, highlighted the tool’s cost-effectiveness and potential to improve governance, others have expressed caution about risks, such as AI bias. At present, Consult is still at the trial stage but is expected to be rolled out across government departments by the end of 2025.
£64bn Cyberattacks Cost
According to cybersecurity firm, ESET, British companies are losing £64 billion each year to cyberattacks. More than half of UK businesses faced at least one cyber incident last year, with 43% experiencing lasting effects on their growth. The main threats include phishing (impacting nearly 50% of companies), malware (33%), and online banking attacks (30%).
Direct costs, such as ransom payments, overtime, legal fees and consultancy, totalled £37.3 billion, equal to 0.7% of overall business revenue. Indirect costs, such as higher cybersecurity budgets, client losses and reduced competitiveness, added another £26.7 billion.
ESET has stressed the importance of taking proactive steps to prevent attacks and reduce financial and reputational risks. Given the increasing direct and indirect costs of falling victim, the firm stresses that no business is in a position to ignore cybersecurity.
Cyber Resilience Hub
During May, the University of Wolverhampton opened its new Centre for Cyber Resilience and Artificial Intelligence (CYBRAI), a research facility that aims to tackle the challenges of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. The centre’s primary goal is to facilitate collaboration between academics, businesses and the government to find effective solutions for the growing number and sophistication of digital threats.
The opening of CYBRAI coincides with the release of the UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025. The survey revealed that 43% of UK businesses and 30% of charities experienced cyberattacks over the previous 12 months, a figure that amounts to approximately 600,000 businesses and 60,000 charities.
CYBRAI intends to use AI to strengthen cyber resilience, deploying it to automate various security tasks and enhance threat detection capabilities. It is hoped that its work will play a crucial role in hardening digital security both in the UK and overseas.
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