Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Friday 4th February 2022 Ministerial Corrections

Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill

The following is an extract from the Second Reading debate on the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill on 26 January 2022.

[Ms Dorries]

Finally, manufacturers will be required to be completely transparent about how often, and for how long, their products will receive security updates and patches. According to the current guidance that is being commonly issued, if we update our computers regularly when asked to do so and use two-step verification, 90% of cyber-attacks can be avoided. The requirement for manufacturers to be transparent about how often their product will receive security updates is intended to help consumers to know at which point they will need to do that.

[Official Report, 26 January 2022, Vol. 707, c. 1031.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport:

Errors have been identified in my speech on Second Reading.

The correct information should have been:

[Ms Dorries]

Finally, manufacturers will be required to be completely transparent about for how long their products will receive security updates and patches. According to the current guidance that is being commonly issued, if we update our computers regularly when asked to do so and use two-step verification, 90% of cyber-attacks can be avoided. The requirement for manufacturers to be transparent about for how long their product will receive security updates is intended to help consumers to make an informed choice when purchasing a product.