Inside the Mind of the UK’s Top Cyber Intelligence Officer: A Ransomware 3.0 Reality Check | An Infosecurity EU 2025 Conversation with William Lyne, Deputy Director and Head of Cyber Intelligence at the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA)

William Lyne of the UK’s National Crime Agency joins us live at Infosecurity Europe to talk ransomware, AI threats, and the future of cybercrime disruption.

When the UK’s top cyber intelligence strategist sits down with you in London, you listen — and you hit record.

At Infosecurity Europe 2025, the ITSPmagazine podcast team — Marco Ciappelli and Sean Martin — sat down with William Lyne, Deputy Director and Head of Cyber Intelligence at the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA). This is the guy who not only leads cyber strategy for the NCA, but has also represented the UK at the FBI in the U.S. and now oversees national-level ransomware disruption efforts. It’s not just a conversation — it’s a rare front-row seat into how one of the world’s most serious crime-fighting agencies is tackling ransomware 3.0.

The message? Ransomware isn’t just a cyber issue. It’s a societal one. And it’s evolving faster than we’re prepared for — unless we change the game.

“It went from niche to national threat fast,” Lyne explains. “The tools were always there. It just took a few threat actors to stitch them together.”

From banking malware to fully operational cybercrime-as-a-service ecosystems, Lyne walks us through how the underground economy has industrialized. Ransomware isn’t just about tech — it’s about access, scale, and business models. And most importantly, it’s no longer limited to elite coders or closed-door Russian-speaking forums. The barrier to entry is gone, and the dark web is wide open for business.

Sean brings up the obvious: “Why does this still feel like we’re always reacting?”

Lyne responds: “We’ve shifted. We’re going after the ecosystem — the people, the infrastructure, the business model — not just the payload.” That includes disrupting ransomware-as-a-service, targeting marketplaces, and yes, investing in preemptive intelligence.

Marco flips the script by comparing today’s cyber landscape to something deeply human. “Extortion is nothing new — we’ve just digitalized it. This is human behavior, scaled by tech.”

From there, the conversation takes a future-facing turn. Deepfakes, AI-powered phishing, the commoditization of generative tools — Lyne confirms it’s all on their radar. But he’s quick to note that cybercriminals aren’t bleeding-edge innovators. “They adopt when the ROI is right. But AI-as-a-service? That’s coming. And it will reshape how efficient — and damaging — these threats become.”

And then the real insight lands:

“You can’t wait to be a victim to talk to law enforcement. We may already have access to the infrastructure. The earlier we hear from you, the better we can act — and fast.”

That kind of operational openness isn’t something you heard from law enforcement five years ago. It signals a cultural shift — one where collaboration is not optional, it’s essential.

William also highlights the NCA’s partnerships with private sector firms, academia, and international agencies, including the Kronos operation targeting LockBit infrastructure. These kinds of collaborations prove that when information moves, so does impact.

Why does this matter?

Because while most cybersecurity media gets stuck in product buzzwords and vendor hype, this is the real stuff — how ransomware groups behave, how law enforcement thinks, and how society can respond. It’s not theory. It’s strategy, lived on the front lines.
 

🎧 Listen to the full episode and explore more Infosecurity Europe 2025 coverage at ITSPmagazine.com.

If you’re in cybersecurity, public safety, critical infrastructure, or just trying to keep your business alive in 2025 — you don’t want to miss this one.
 

Keywords:

cybersecurity, ransomware, cybercrime, national security, threat intelligence, encryption, data breach, AI in cyber, phishing, law enforcement collaboration, cyber ecosystem, cyber