Improving Cyber Resilience

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Wednesday 21st May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises a series of important questions. Given the detail of them, I will write to her, and make sure that I speak to relevant officials, so that she gets the answers that she seeks. On One Login, over 5 million people are currently using it to prove their identity, and the ID Check app has over 6.5 million downloads, and a 4.7 rating on all app stores. If there are questions to answer, I will make sure that we get her the answers.

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, can the Minister tell the House the government advice to companies facing not just a cyberattack but a ransom demand; whether that advice tallies with the advice and, indeed, instructions from their insurers; and how much money companies have paid out in ransom demands so far?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, the threat of ransomware and ransoms are clearly appalling crimes undertaken by cybercriminals. The Home Office—and I can speak only for the public service and Government—has concluded a consultation on world-leading proposals to strike at the heart of the ransomware business model, cutting off criminals’ funding and protecting UK business by deterring threats.

The position of the Government is that public funds will not be used to pay ransom demands made by cybercriminals. This is, however, an important issue, which is why last year the National Crime Agency led a global collaboration to disrupt one of the most dangerous cybercrime networks in the world. In February, the UK sanctioned six Russian individuals for facilitating crippling ransomware attacks. This is at the frontier of the cyber threat, and from the Government’s perspective, we highly recommend that people do not pay ransoms; there is no guarantee that their data has not already been sold on.