Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of an IT shutdown initiated by hostile foreign actors on (a) the NHS and (b) other critical digital infrastructure.

The Cabinet Office works with Departments across Government, and the National Cyber Security Centre, to assess and tackle cross-cutting risks to the UK’s critical infrastructure.

The cyber threat is dynamic and grows more complex each year, with implications for our Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). It is an issue this Government takes incredibly seriously, and we are committed to working closely with CNI operators to ensure resilience and preparedness to all threats, including cyber. This means understanding and managing cyber risk, and minimising the impact of cyber incidents when they occur.

For the health sector, in an increasingly digitised system, cyber-attacks are a direct threat to patient safety and people in care, as well as to public confidence. The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England are delivering an ambitious Cyber Improvement Programme that addresses the changing cyber risk landscape, expands protection and services and reduces the risk of a successful attack.