Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Business Secretary on the security and safety of Internet of Things-connected (a) toys and (b) other devices.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport regularly discusses Cyber Security with colleagues across government. The cyber security of the UK is a top priority for the Government which is why we are investing £1.9 billion and have recently opened the National Cyber Security Centre to help make the UK the safest place to live and do business online.

Further, the recently published 2016 National Cyber Security Strategy makes it clear that Government is committed to building a secure Internet and sets out an objective for “the majority of online products and services coming into use [to] become ‘secure by default’ by 2021.”

In general, manufacturers of Internet-connected devices should ensure those devices have appropriate security measures built in and seek to ensure emerging technologies are secure by default. Device manufacturers can also help ensure consumers are aware of the need to change any default passwords to a strong password upon purchase.

The Government funds a variety of ongoing research on cyber security to ensure we are able to address current and future challenges, such as security of Internet-connected devices. This includes 13 Academic Centres of Excellence in cyber security research based at UK universities, three cyber security Research Institutes investigating strategically important subjects and the Internet of Things Research Hub led by the PETRAS consortium of nine leading UK universities.