§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of computer(a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in 2000 and 2001; and on how many occasions in 2000 and 2001 computer systems in his Department have been illegally accessed by computer hackers within and outside his Department. [10975]
§ Dr. MoonieThe number of incidents affecting computer systems for the years 2000 and 2001 are summarised in the table:
916W
Incident type 2000 20011 Computer hacking total 9 12 of which there were: website defacements 3 2 and 18 July 2001. The MOD has undertaken to continue to monitor the mortality of both Gulf veterans and the era group and will publish updated figures on a regular basis. The figures as at 31 December 2001 are shown in the table.
Overall, in the period 1 April 1991 to 31 December 2001, the mortality of UK Gulf veterans was no different than that of the control group. Slightly fewer Gulf veterans have died from disease-related causes than have those in the control group, whereas the number of Gulf veterans dying of external causes is a little higher than for the control group. These differences are similar to those shown by the figures published in July 2001.
Incident type 2000 20011 internal incursions 6 10 Computer fraud 4 4 Computer theft2 267 312 1 Reports thus far. 2 Computer theft figures include desktops, laptops and items of computer peripheral equipment. None of the instances of hacking had any operational impact, and despite widespread and frequent probes of the Ministry of Defence firewalls connected to the internet, there is no evidence of any successful incursion from an external source to any departmental computer system. While website defacement may constitute an offence under The Computer Misuse Act 1990, none of the instances recorded provided clear grounds for prosecution.
917WIn the case of computer fraud, all instances are cases where MOD computers have been used in support of fraudulent activities, rather than specific fraud of a computer based system.