Asked by: Baroness Andrews (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recent cyberattacks on (1) UK computing infrastructure, and (2) any delays to COVID-19 research that such attacks may have caused. [T]
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The UK remains resilient against cyber attacks and the government has invested heavily in developing the UK's cyber security capabilities, as set out in the National Cyber Security Strategy. The Government judges the overall level of cyber crime has remained stable, however there has been an increase in malicious ‘phishing’ emails attempting to capitalise on concern around Covid-19. The National Cyber Security Centre is supporting the NHS, health researchers and others in the health supply chain to ensure all the nation's resources can be focused on the public health response without disruption.