Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant or speculative issue for cyber security. The most advanced systems, often referred to as frontier AI models, are already showing results in specific steps of cyber operations, such as in helping identify zero days in widely used software, or solving cryptographic challenges. These models are changing the cost, speed and scale of operations for both attackers and defenders. It means tasks which once required specialist skills – such as writing exploit code, understanding system architecture or using attack tools – can increasingly be automated using AI in certain circumstances. Recent findings from the AI Security Institute (AISI) highlight an accelerated increase in the cyber capabilities of frontier models, and at a far faster pace than…