Written question asked by Stephen O'Brien (Conservative) on Tuesday, 3 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 27 February 2004. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Friday, 27 February 2004 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what steps are being taken to deal with the threats to UK businesses from cyber-terrorism.

Answer: Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps are being taken to deal with the threats to UK businesses from cyber- terrorism. [153559] Mr. Timms: Policy on the protection of the UK from terrorist attack is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary. The Department contributes to the overall goal of protecting UK interests from electronic attack by seeking to improve the information security management of UK business. We do this by promoting relevant research and our innovation activities which seek to promote the adoption of new technologies such as biometrics. In particular, we have worked for many years on the identification and promotion of management best practice, we have regularly surveyed the nature of the problems and the solutions adopted and have a suite of material aimed at demystifying the subject for smaller companies working on-line.

Secondary information