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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what monitoring his Department conducts on the extent to which outside individuals have attempted to hack into his Department's computer system; how often reports are made on this matter; and what is the current security classification of such reports. [40755] Mr. Spellar: Ministry of Defence policy on the connection of computer systems to external data networks, such as the Internet, is that the computer system should be dedicated to the purpose and, unless the system processes only unclassified data, be protected by a security architecture which includes firewall technology that monitors attempts at hacking. There is no evidence of a successful intrusion from an external source to any MOD computer system. The MOD is a contributing Department to the Government wide Unified Incident Reporting and Alert Scheme, UNIRAS, run by the Security Service. Security incidents, including attempts at hacking, are reported to UNIRAS and an annual report, classified RESTRICTED, is produced by the Security Service.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

40755; 312 c2W

Session

1997-98

Subjects

Data protection Computers Fraud Government departments Ministry of Defence Security Hacking