§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions in 2001 attempts were made to gain unauthorised access to computers in his Department by hacking; and of those how many were successful. [32738]
§ Mr. MacShaneIn 2001 there were three occasions when unauthorised access to FCO systems was identified. On the first occasion successful access was gained to the FCO's website, and the Internet service provider has subsequently put stronger firewalls in place. The second and third occasions both involved access to FCO computer systems through weaknesses which have now been resolved. In common with other Departments, no facility exists to alert FCO to unsuccessful attempts to gain unauthorised access.