Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack

Lord Vaux of Harrowden Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. I have not read the article, but I will surely do so. The Government recognise the major role that UK cybersecurity professionals play in enhancing and protecting UK security, and it is vital that we support them. However, the defences are pretty complex, and we need to be very careful. While there are robust safeguards and oversight, we have concerns about how any defence could be exploited by cybercriminals and significantly hinder the successful investigation and prosecution of bad actors, so the Home Office is working closely with the National Cyber Security Centre, law enforcement and industry on this issue and will provide an update in due course.

[Lord Vaux of Harrowden (CB)]

My Lords, studies indicate that between 50% and 80% of cyberattacks result in the payment of a ransom. Ransom amounts are probably well over £1 billion a year, so it is no great surprise that cyberattacks are increasing: it pays well. Have the Government considered making the payment of ransoms by both public and private sector entities illegal?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes an important point. I share with noble Lords that in the UK ransomware is considered the greatest of all serious and organised cybercrime threats and is deemed a risk to the UK’s national security by the National Crime Agency. In January 2025, the Home Office launched a consultation on a package of proposals to reduce the threat that ransomware poses to the UK economy. Alongside this consultation, significant stakeholder engagement also took place. Three proposals were consulted on: first, whether there should be a targeted ban on ransom payments to owners; secondly, a ransom payment prevention regime; and, thirdly, whether there should be a mandatory incident and reporting regime. The Home Office is progressing a new package of measures to protect UK businesses, and we will update the House accordingly.