UK's NCSC unveils autonomous AI defence blueprint 'Cyber Shield'

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) have published a blueprint called 'Cyber Shield' that puts goal-oriented autonomous (agentic) AI at the core of national cyber defence. To protect critical infrastructure, it envisions automated scanning of critical UK IP ranges and automated blocking of malicious domains. The details were set out in an NCSC blog post on 7 July 2026, and the concept had already been referenced by GCHQ Director Anne Keast-Butler in the first GCHQ Annual Lecture at Bletchley Park on 27 May of the same year.