HC Deb 27 February 2004 vol 418 cc609-10W
Mr. Stephen O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to deal with the threats to UK businesses from cyber-terrorism. [153559]

Mr. Timms

Policy on the protection of the UK from terrorist attack is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. The Department contributes to the overall goal of protecting UK interests from electronic attack by seeking to improve the information security management of UK business. We do this by promoting relevant research and our innovation activities which seek to promote the adoption of new technologies such as biometrics. In particular, we have worked for many years on the identification and promotion of management best practice, we have regularly surveyed the nature of the problems and the solutions adopted and have a suite of material aimed at demystifying the subject for smaller companies working on-line.