Discovery ranks cybercrime as its top risk, citing frontier AI

Discovery moved cybercrime and cybersecurity from third to first place among its top 10 risks in its annual report for the year to 30 June 2026, warning that frontier AI models let attackers automate attacks faster than defences can respond. The risk of falling behind on AI adoption rose from fifth to third.

• Cyber risk climbed from 3rd to 1st; geopolitical risk fell to 2nd
• Discovery Bank had over 1.56 million clients at end of June
• Group is reviewing cryptographic assets for quantum-safe encryption
• Headcount rose to over 15,200 with AI-related reskilling planned