§ Brian WhiteTo ask the Secretary of State for Health 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. [80774]
§ Mr. LammyProtection of the Department's information technology (IT) systems is of primary importance, and the risk of digital attack is continually re-assessed in the light of changes in technology and the perceived danger. Technical and procedural measures are regularly adjusted to take account of changing circumstances.
The Department recently achieved compliance with the British Standard (BS7799) for Information Security, which covers IT security procedures. To ensure IT security processes and procedures remain effective, regular independent security audits and tests are conducted.
The number of cases of digital attack detected was 2 in October and 3,476 in 2002 to date. These attacks were all in the form of e-mailed computer viruses.