§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 2 February 2000,Official Report, column 590W, on computers, what type of classified information was accessed by his Department's staff in each hacking incident; and what grades or type of staff would normally have access to this information. [109458]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 10 February 2000]: Internal hacking incidents are categorised into eight different types of misuse and the classification of the information involved may not be relevant to the type of incident. During the past two years, none of the internal hacking incidents involved the theft or disclosure of classified information. Access to classified information is determined by the post held by the staff member and also on a need to know basis. The grade of the staff member is not relevant.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 2 February 2000,Official Report, column 590W, on computers, what action has been taken to reduce the number of internal incursions into computer files containing classified information. [109457]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 10 February 2000]: My Department is continuously reviewing, and seeking ways to improve, both the procedural and electronic security of its systems. Electronic measures include the identification and authentication of users and audit of user activities. Before any IT system is allowed to operate it must obtain a security approval known as accreditation. All MOD staff are required to read and agree to comply with the Security Operating System for the system that they will use.
§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 2 February 2000,Official Report, column 590W, on computers, how many of his Department's staff have been disciplined for hacking incidents; and what disciplinary action was taken in each case. [109456]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 10 February 2000]: The incident recording system in use for the past five years does not carry details of disciplinary action taken. The recording system has however recently been modified to record when disciplinary action has been initiated but not the precise details of that action.