§ Brian WhiteTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he has taken to review the security of the Department's IT system; and how many digital attacks there were on the Department's system in(a) October and (b) 2002. [80778]
§ Dr. MoonieThe Ministry of Defence is continuously reviewing, and seeking ways to improve, the security of its communications and information systems. Electronic protective measures employed to safeguard classified data include the use of firewalls to protect systems, the identification and authentication of users and audit of user activities.
The Ministry of Defence, in common with any organisation that is connected to the Internet, is subject to widespread and frequent attempts to probe its electronic boundaries. It is Ministry of Defence policy not to make detailed comment on the protection 117W measures applied to communications and information systems, or on techniques such as computer hacking, as these could assist potential enemies to penetrate these elements of national security.
During October 2002, no incidents of computer hacking were reported. So far this year 10 incidents of computer hacking have been reported, of which one was a website defacement. None of these had any significant impact on the conduct of military operations or other core Defence business.