The National Cyber Security Centre launched its Annual Review 2026 on 3 November 2026 with a stark warning:
AI did not create the UK’s cyber weaknesses, but it is exposing them faster, with a real prospect of an unprecedented rise in incidents in the coming months because vulnerabilities tolerated for far too long can now be found and exploited at scale
. For Kent SMEs, the message is clear—attackers are using artificial intelligence to find and weaponise the same basic security gaps that businesses have postponed fixing for years.
Richard Horne, CEO of the NCSC, warned that the UK’s defensive capabilities are not developing quickly enough to address increasingly sophisticated threats
, whilst
malicious cyberactivity costs UK organisations approximately £14.7 billion annually
. The review makes it clear that the threat is not some distant AI-powered future attack—it is the acceleration of existing risks you may already be managing inadequately.
AI Is Exploiting Basic Weaknesses Kent SMEs Have Tolerated for Years
The NCSC’s central point is that
attackers aren’t using AI to invent new attacks—they’re using it to find and exploit weaknesses that organisations have tolerated for years, at a speed and scale that wasn’t possible before
. This fundamentally changes the risk calculation for small and medium enterprises across Kent and the South East.
Where a manual reconnaissance phase once gave businesses days or weeks to detect unusual activity, AI-assisted scanning now identifies unpatched systems, misconfigured access controls, and end-of-life software within hours.
Despite the emergence of AI-enabled threats, the NCSC stresses that many successful cyberattacks continue to exploit established security weaknesses
.
The practical implication for Kent SMEs is that vulnerabilities you might previously have considered low priority—an ageing Windows Server that “still works,” user accounts without multi-factor authentication, or software no longer receiving security updates—are now discoverable and exploitable at industrial scale.
The NCSC considers it highly likely that AI-powered malware will be used in a ransomware attack against UK Critical National Infrastructure by 2028
, and the same techniques will target smaller organisations long before that date.
What the NCSC Told UK Organisations to Do Immediately
The NCSC Annual Review 2026 included specific, actionable guidance for organisations of all sizes.
The NCSC’s advice keeps coming back to the basics: replace end-of-life technology, give people only the access they need, switch on MFA or passkeys, keep systems updated, and monitor for problems
.
The five priority actions for UK businesses are:
- Invest with urgency, and do not delay—in particular, replace end-of-life technology
- Keep critical physical systems inaccessible to attackers
- Make passkeys the norm
- Treat security and resilience as a fundamental requirement, not an afterthought
- Buy on resilience, not just price—ask whether the technology and operations behind a service are secure
For context,
most attacks still rely on stolen credentials and lateral movement
, which means your immediate focus should be identity security and access control. This aligns directly with recent NCSC warnings about identity security weaknesses and the importance of modern authentication controls.
Replace End-of-Life Technology Without Further Delay
End-of-life (EOL) software and hardware no longer receive security updates, meaning newly discovered vulnerabilities remain permanently unpatched. The NCSC has made replacing EOL technology its top urgent action because AI-driven scanning can identify these systems rapidly and exploit them before you can respond.
If your Kent business is still running software or operating systems that have reached end of support—whether that’s older versions of Windows Server, unsupported Microsoft .NET frameworks, or legacy applications—this is your signal to plan replacement now. Recent Meridian Micro coverage has detailed Windows 11 23H2 end of support and developer tool EOL dates—both require immediate attention.
Implement Multi-Factor Authentication and Passkeys for All User Accounts
Turn on two-step sign-in for every email account—this is where a code on your phone, or an approval in an app, is needed as well as your password, and stolen passwords are one of the main ways in, and this stops most of them being useful to a criminal
. Do not overlook shared mailboxes, administrative accounts, or legacy user credentials.
The NCSC explicitly recommends making passkeys the norm rather than relying solely on password-based authentication. For Kent SMEs using Microsoft 365, this means enabling and enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all user accounts and beginning the transition to passwordless sign-in using Microsoft Authenticator or Windows Hello for Business.
Apply November 2026 Security Updates That Strengthen NTLM Protections
Microsoft’s November 2026 Patch Tuesday introduced significant hardening of NTLM authentication to address actively exploited vulnerabilities.
Windows security updates released on November 10, 2026 and later enable clients to offer NTLM message signing by default for non-anonymous connections
, reducing exposure to credential relay attacks.
This update is directly relevant to the NCSC’s warning because
the November updates introduce protections related to CVE-2026-118737, a Windows Remote Procedure Call Runtime remote code execution vulnerability stemming from improper cryptographic signature verification
. Kent SMEs should prioritise deploying the November 2026 updates across all Windows environments immediately.
Free NCSC Support Available to Kent SMEs Right Now
The UK government has allocated significant resources to help SMEs strengthen defences in response to the escalating threat environment documented in the Annual Review 2026.
Eligible UK SMEs can access a free, no-obligation 30-minute consultation with an NCSC-assured Cyber Advisor through IASME, with the session helping businesses understand practical improvements and prepare for Cyber Essentials
.
Additionally, the government announced a £2.4 million funding package providing 75% discount on Cyber Essentials certification for thousands of SMEs and micro businesses.
Cyber Essentials should be the starting point for cybersecurity, not the end goal, with organisations building greater resilience according to their size, complexity, and risk
.
Free resources you should be using immediately include:
- NCSC’s 10 Steps to Cyber Security—a guidance framework covering everything from risk management to incident response
- NCSC Early Warning Service—free threat alerts already used by over 8,500 UK organisations
- NCSC guidance on actions to take when the cyber threat is heightened
What Kent SMEs Must Do This Week
The NCSC Annual Review 2026 is not a theoretical warning—it documents 80 nationally significant incidents already recorded and projects further acceleration. For Kent businesses, the appropriate response is to treat basic security hygiene as urgent business-continuity work, not optional IT housekeeping.
Your immediate priorities should be:
- Audit all software and hardware for end-of-life status and schedule replacement for anything no longer supported
- Enforce multi-factor authentication on every user account, including shared mailboxes and service accounts
- Deploy Microsoft’s November 2026 security updates to strengthen NTLM protections
- Review user access permissions and remove unnecessary administrative rights
- Register for the NCSC Early Warning Service to receive threat intelligence relevant to your sector
- Consider applying for the government’s 75% Cyber Essentials discount to establish a verified baseline
The NCSC’s conclusion is unequivocal:
the answer is stronger foundations, leadership from the boardroom and using AI for defence faster than attackers can use it
. The vulnerabilities AI-powered attackers are now exploiting at scale are not new, exotic, or unavoidable—they are the basic security gaps businesses have postponed addressing for budget, convenience, or lack of urgency.
Meridian Micro provides IT support across Kent and the South East, helping SMEs implement the NCSC’s guidance through managed patching, identity security, end-of-life technology replacement, and Cyber Essentials certification support. If your business needs practical help strengthening defences in response to the NCSC Annual Review 2026 warnings, call our team on 01303 883111 to discuss your current environment and priority actions.