Written question asked by Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord West of Spithead (Labour) on Thursday, 28 January 2010.

Internet: Explorer

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the recent announcement by Microsoft that Internet Explorer was used to carry out thecyber attacks which prompted Google to say it will withdraw from China, they will review the use of Internet Explorer throughout the public sector.

Answer: We take internet security very seriously. The UK Government have worked with Microsoft and other suppliers over many years to understand the security of the products used by HMG, including Internet Explorer. Each department is responsible for managing the risks to its IT systems based on government information security and assurance policy and technical advice from CESG, the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance. Complex software will always have vulnerabilities and motivated adversaries will always work to discover and take advantage of them. There is no evidence that moving from the latest fully patched versions of Internet Explorer to other browsers will make users more secure. Regular software patching and updating will help defend against the latest threats. A government Internet Explorer user, operating on government systems, such as the GSi (Government Secure Intranet), will benefit from additional security measures, unlikely to be available to the average home computer user. These include tools which actively monitor for evidence of any malicious attacks and provide a layered approach to internet security.

Secondary information