Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that UK citizens are protected from online fraud and social media and text messaging scams.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Under the Online Safety Act regulatory framework, online platforms are required to take steps to reduce the risk their services are used to facilitate fraud, scams and other illegal activity. These duties have started to take effect on services. Ofcom is the regulator and has powers to enforce against non-compliance.
Government and industry are also currently developing a second Telecoms Charter. Under the first Telecommunications Charter, telecoms operators introduced firewalls that have stopped more than 1 billion scam text messages since January 2022. The Government will also ban “SIM farms”, devices used to send out scam texts to thousands of people at once.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the number of cybersecurity professionals in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cyber Security Sectoral Analysis and the Cyber Security Labour Market Survey, published by DSIT, show the cyber sector is creating more jobs every year, while the annual shortfall of cyber professionals is reducing.
To continue this progress, we deliver the CyberFirst programme that supports 11-25 year-olds across the UK with a range of opportunities, including educational courses, events and competitions, and financial support. DSIT also funds the UK Cyber Team Competition to identify our most talented 18-25 year-olds, who then go on to receive access to advanced training and mentorship to help develop their careers.
Additionally, DSIT funds the UK Cyber Security Council as the professional authority for cyber security. This body sets the standard for the profession, making it easier to recognise excellence and expertise for employers and practitioners alike.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of cybersecurity professionals in the UK.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
As part of the Government's £2.6 billion National Cyber Strategy, the Government is delivering a range of ambitious programmes to boost the number of people with the skills needed to enter the cyber workforce.
Northern Ireland is a global cyber security hub, with ambition to grow its cyber security workforce to exceed 5,000 professionals by 2030. As part of an £18.9 million investment in Northern Ireland’s cyber security industry the Government is funding a Doctoral training programme and Masters bursaries at Queen's University Belfast to support the development of talent for Northern’s Ireland’s cyber sector.
To help people with the necessary aptitude to enter the cyber workforce across the whole of the UK we offer free cyber skills bootcamps through the Government’s ‘Skills for Life’ scheme, including the current “Upskill in Cyber” reskilling programme.
To inspire young people towards a career in cyber and tech, the Government’s Cyber Explorers programme supports teachers to energise 11-14 year olds across the UK. This has seen over 2,000 schools sign up for the programme in its first phase, alongside the National Cyber Security Centre-led ‘CyberFirst’ competitions and degree bursaries.
The Government has worked with industry and other partners to create the UK Cyber Security Council as the new professional body for cyber security. The Council will clearly define quality pathways into and through a cyber career, making a cyber career more attractive to both the current and future workforce.
Asked by: Lord Browne of Belmont (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the safety of children online, including measures to combat cyberbullying, online grooming, and exposure to harmful content.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Shadow Minister (Science, Innovation and Technology)
The strongest protections in the Online Safety Bill are for children. The Bill will require all services in scope to protect their users from illegal content. This includes all forms of child sexual exploitation and abuse, including grooming, which have been designated as priority offences under the Bill. This means all in scope companies must take proactive, preventative measures to limit people’s exposure to this content and criminal behaviour.
In addition, where content is harmful to children but falls below the criminal threshold, service providers which are likely to be accessed by children will have to take action to protect children from encountering it. This includes cyberbullying, pornography and content which promotes suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. These duties extend to ensuring that systems for targeting content to children, such as the use of algorithms, and other features and functionalities on the service such as live streaming and private messaging, protect children from harmful material.