Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 5 May 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 14 May 1998. It was answered by Tony Blair (Labour) on Thursday, 14 May 1998 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister

Question: To ask the Prime Minister, what steps are being taken to ensure that software used by the security services obtained from outside the United Kingdom does not contain trapdoors, allowing unauthorised access to sensitive information. - (Holding answer 8 May 1998).

Answer: Mr. Baker: To ask the Prime Minister what steps are being taken to ensure that software used by the security services obtained from outside the United Kingdom does not contain trapdoors, allowing unauthorised access to sensitive information. [41193] The Prime Minister: [holding answer 8 May 1998]: In common with other Government Departments, the intelligence and security services, when procuring software to process sensitive information, evaluate it against criteria which include its ability to deny unauthorised access.

Secondary information