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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in 2000 and 2001; and on how many occasions in 2000 and 2001 computer systems in his Department have been illegally accessed by computer hackers within and outside his Department. [10975] Dr. Moonie: The number of incidents affecting computer systems for the years 2000 and 2001 are summarised in the table: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Incident type 2000 2001{ 1} Computer hacking total 9 12 of which there were: website defacements 3 2 internal incursions 6 10 Computer fraud 4 4 Computer theft{2} 267 312 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Reports thus far. 2 Computer theft figures include desktops, laptops and items of computer peripheral equipment. None of the instances of hacking had any operational impact, and despite widespread and frequent probes of the Ministry of Defence firewalls connected to the internet, there is no evidence of any successful incursion from an external source to any departmental computer system. While website defacement may constitute an offence under The Computer Misuse Act 1990, none of the instances recorded provided clear grounds for prosecution. In the case of computer fraud, all instances are cases where MOD computers have been used in support of fraudulent activities, rather than specific fraud of a computer based system.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

10975; 378 c915-7W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Crime Computers Fraud Government departments Ministry of Defence Security Theft Hacking

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk