The recent open letter from the UK Government is clear, and in reality applies to every company in every location. This is not about how you use AI. It is about how others will use it against you.
Attackers now move faster, target better, and operate at scale. What once took time and skill can now be automated and repeated. Every organisation is a more viable target.
This is happening now.
Two points matter for boards.
- This is not an issue to delegate to your IT team and forget about.
- Not all incidents can be prevented.
Both require action.
This is not an IT problem
AI-driven attacks test your business, not just your systems. They exploit people, process, and timing.
IT can secure infrastructure. It cannot decide how your business responds under pressure. It cannot balance operational impact against risk. It cannot own the outcome.
That sits with you.
At board level, you should be able to answer, clearly:
- How would we most likely be attacked today?
- What would cause real harm if it succeeded?
- Who is in charge when it happens?
If those answers are unclear, you do not have control.
Make cyber a business discussion. Assign a named executive owner. Give them the mandate to act across the organisation.
You cannot prevent everything
AI increases attack volume and quality at the same time. Even strong controls will be tested more often.
Prevention will fail at some point.
Resilience is what matters.
Focus on three things:
- Detection. How quickly do you know?
- Response. Who decides and how fast?
- Containment. How do you limit impact?
These are not technical details. They are business decisions.
What to do in the next 30 days
Run a board-level scenario.
Pick a realistic attack and walk it end to end.
Test your response.
Make sure roles, decisions, and escalation are clear.
Check your exposure.
Understand what attackers can see and use.
Fix the basics.
Access control, patching, and MFA still stop real attacks.
Make it visible.
Put cyber risk on the board agenda and keep it there.
AI has changed the scale of cyber risk. Not the fact of it.
You cannot delegate this.
You cannot prevent everything.
But you can decide how ready you are.
If you want a clear view of your exposure and a practical plan to improve it, DigitalTeddy can help you assess where you stand and what to do next.