Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the UK's preparedness for AI-enabled cyber threats.

The cyber security of the UK is a priority for the government and we have robust measures in place to protect our critical national infrastructure and essential public services. It is clear that artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities are accelerating quickly, which presents both risks and opportunities for cyber security.

The government takes these accelerating capabilities very seriously. We have been clear ongoing action is needed to improve UK cyber defences. We are already taking significant steps, including working across government and industry to understand the latest developments, publishing evaluations of the latest AI models, and taking widespread action to improve cyber resilience across the economy and help organisations protect against AI-driven threats.

On 15 April the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and the Security Minister wrote an open letter to businesses urging them to strengthen their cyber resilience. On 22 April the government announced further measures to improve UK cyber resilience, including £90m of new funding to boost cyber security, and the new Cyber Resilience Pledge companies can take to demonstrate their commitment to cyber security.

The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is currently making its way through Parliament and later this year we will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan. Cyber security is a shared responsibility and both industry and government must play their part in tackling this challenge. This includes the urgent need for tech companies to ensure they develop secure by design software and devices, aligned to agreed standards and codes of practice.