Written question asked by Julian Lewis (Conservative) on Thursday, 5 December 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 January 2003. It was answered by Lord Moonie (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 January 2003 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the security implications of adopting commercial off-the-shelf instead of made-to-measure operating systems for future software systems for the Royal Navy.

Answer: Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the security implications of adopting commercial off-the-shelf instead of made-to-measure operating systems for future software systems for the Royal Navy. [86483] Dr. Moonie: It is recognised that, increasingly, systems which include commercial off-the-shelf software will be offered to the Ministry of Defence by potential contractors for defence applications. This can be beneficial in reducing development times and costs, but can give concern as off-the-shelf software may be of uncertain origin and not stringently tested prior to release. Projects are therefore treated on a case by case basis. The security requirements of each system will be specified in the design documents. When a commercial off-the-shelf product (e.g. an operating system) is to be used with specified security features, it is required to undergo security evaluation.

Secondary information