Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to support local authorities with cyber security and the rise in related threats.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne
The Government has set out its approach to cyber resilience the Government Cyber Security Strategy (GCSS). Cabinet Office are the lead department for the implementation of the GCSS, local government are responsible for the resilience of their networks and systems, and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is assigned stewardship of local government, with responsibility for cyber policy and assurance.
Since 2020, DLUHC has provided £19.9 million of grant funding and technical support to 192 English local authorities to improve their cyber maturity. In collaboration with the Local Government Association and the National Cyber Security Centre, DLUHC have been raising the awareness of cyber risk and fostering cyber-first cultures and practices in local government.
To support councils to assess and improve their cyber security, DLUHC are introducing the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) for the English local government sector later this year, providing a clear cyber security standard and method for local authorities to assess their cyber health.
Correspondence May. 22 2024
Committee: Science, Innovation and Technology CommitteeFound: the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology in relation to a Call for Views on the Cyber
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle cyber attacks on schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Educational settings in England are responsible for maintaining their IT systems and Cyber Security. The department has a small, dedicated sector cyber security team to support this activity. This team provides appropriate guidance and advice, via regular targeted and broad communications, to help schools adhere to and maintain good cyber security standards. The department provides guidance for schools and colleges on how to help protect against a cyber incident. This guidance can be found on GOV.UK.
The department also works closely with the National Cyber Crime Security Centre (NCSC) and Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) to ensure that up-to-date cyber security guidance is shared with schools, colleges and universities.
The department’s Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) has more than 9,900 member schools, which represents 52% of eligible schools in England, and includes cover for cyber incidents as standard from the 2022/23 membership years. In the event of a cyber incident, RPA members have access to a 24/7 Incident Response Service.
The department’s dedicated sector cyber security function provides advice in response to cyber security enquiries and incident reports from the sector, liaising with the affected institution following an incident to advise on steps to mitigate the threat and provide guidance on recovery.
May. 21 2024
Source Page: I. Call for views on the cyber security of AI. 44p. II. Letter dated 13/05/2024 from Michelle Donelan MP to Baroness Stowell of Beeston regarding the call for views. 3p.Found: Call for views on the cyber security of AI. 44p. II.
Jun. 10 2024
Source Page: Critical 5: Shared Narrative on Critical National InfrastructureFound: Critical 5: Shared Narrative on Critical National Infrastructure
Asked by: Baillie, Jackie (Scottish Labour - Dumbarton)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what tests of IT systems regarding their vulnerability to cyber attacks are undertaken (a) by individual NHS boards and (b) on an NHS Scotland-wide basis.
Answered by Gray, Neil - Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care
The Network and Information System Regulations set out standards which NHS Scotland Health Boards must comply with. Boards must test themselves against these standards which cover managing security risk, defending systems against cyber-attack, detecting cyber security events, and minimising the impact of cyber security incidents. This is in addition to mandatory information security and data protection risk/impact assessments and routine penetration testing on all major IT systems.
The NHS Scotland Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE), works nationally across health boards to prioritise the security capabilities of existing technologies and deployment of new tooling. This allows real time discovery of vulnerabilities and potential issues across a national view.
Mar. 20 2024
Source Page: Cyber security longitudinal survey: wave three resultsFound: Cyber security longitudinal survey: wave three results
Mentions:
1: Mark Hendrick (LAB - Preston) to cyber-crime and the need to enhance the UK’s national cyber-resilience.Cyber-security has a significant - Speech Link
2: Dan Jarvis (Lab - Barnsley Central) National Cyber Security Centre, which is home to exceptional men and women fighting cyber-crime, has - Speech Link
3: Tom Tugendhat (Con - Tonbridge and Malling) the National Cyber Security Centre as a guarantee of security on the internet and in cyber-space. - Speech Link
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of export controls on cyber-surveillance tools.
Answered by Alan Mak
The UK already controls the export of a range of cyber-surveillance tools. Export licence applications for such items are rigorously assessed against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria taking full account of risks to national security and human rights. The UK Government continues to work through the international export control regimes to ensure these controls remain up-to-date.
In assessing licences involving sensitive communications technology, the Export Control Joint Unit also takes advice from HM Government’s National Cyber Security Centre.