Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many incidents there have been of the loss of radar or command and control networks since the inception of military action in Syria.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I am withholding this information for reasons of operational security. The Coalition has appropriate air command and control (C2) and radar capabilities to allow RAF aircraft to operate in a safe and professional manner when conducting missions inside Syrian airspace.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost of integrating the Common Combat System onto Astute and Vanguard-class submarines.
Answered by Philip Dunne
I am withholding information on plans for fitting the Common Combat System (CCS) to Vanguard and Astute Class submarines for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
I am also witholding cost estimates for integrating the CCS onto the Astute and Vanguard-class submarines as to do so would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate his Department has made of how long it will take to integrate the Common Combat System onto Astute and Vanguard-class submarines.
Answered by Philip Dunne
I am withholding information on plans for fitting the Common Combat System (CCS) to Vanguard and Astute Class submarines for the purpose of safeguarding national security.
I am also witholding cost estimates for integrating the CCS onto the Astute and Vanguard-class submarines as to do so would prejudice commercial interests.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what projects are being undertaken by the cyber transformation team in the (a) Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
Each Service is seeking to address their own unique cyber defence challenges. Activities include: introducing cyber into training; strengthening cyber education for the whole organisation; integrating cyber into the strategic planning processes; improving career management for cyber specialists; and developing a better understanding of Defence's cyber vulnerabilities. All activities are brought together through the Defence Cyber Programme to ensure a holistic and coherent approach across the Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has a communication's strategy to tackle violent extremism.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Counter-Extremism Strategy, published in October last year, set out government's response to the threat posed by extremism. As part of that response, the Department is supporting the Home Office led communications strategy. This includes work with broadcasters and technology companies to counter extremist ideologies, and to disrupt those sharing extremist content in the media and online.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much has been spent by the National Cyber Security Programme in each of the last five years.
Answered by Matt Hancock
Since the UK’s first Cyber Security Strategy was published in 2011, we have invested £860m in a National Cyber Security Programme to support the UK’s economic prosperity, protect our national security and safeguard the public’s way of life by building a more trusted and resilient digital environment. The National Cyber Security Programme’s budget breaks down annually as follows: 2011/12 – £105m 2012/13 – £155m 2013/14 – £180m 2014/15 – £210m 2015/16 – £210m We are investing £1.9bn in the next Cyber Security Programme, from financial years 2016/17 until 2020/21, which will give the UK the next generation of cyber security and make our country one of the safest places to do business online.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help small and medium-sized enterprises protect themselves against cyber-attack.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government’s National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) aims to tackle cyber crime and make the UK the safest place in the world to do business in the world. This includes the Cyber Essentials Scheme to protect businesses against common cyber threats and the cyber streetwise campaign which offers simple cyber security advice to small businesses and consumers. In addition to the £860 million investment under the NCSP between 2011-2016, in November 2015 the Chancellor announced a new five year £1.9 billion investment in cyber security to make the UK one of the best protected countries in cyber space.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions his Department has held with local authorities on cyber-security.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance (OCSIA) in the National Security Secretariat in the Cabinet Office works with a range of government partners to deliver the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP). OCSIA has been working closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to support local government cyber security. This includes working with individual councils, the Society of IT Management (SOCITM), the Society of Local Authority Chief Executive (SOLACE) and the Local Government Association (LGA). This financial year the NSCP funded team within DCLG has delivered regional workshops for local government leaders with further workshops planned later this year.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budget of the Defence Cyber Operations Group was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Defence Cyber Operations Group was designed to deliver cyber capability and mainstream cyber security throughout Defence by establishing a federation of cyber units. As this work matured it resulted instead in the formation of the Joint Forces Cyber Group in May 2013.
The Joint Forces Cyber Group (JFCyG) plans and co-ordinates cyber operations, and develops new tactics, techniques and plans to deliver military capabilities to confront high-end threats. It comprises Joint Cyber Units at Cheltenham and Corsham, the Joint Cyber Unit (Reserve) and Information Assurance Units.
I am withholding details on the JFCyG as their disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Steven Paterson (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of the reserve forces are cyber specialists.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We are significantly growing the number of dedicated Cyber specialists in the Reserves. Recruiting is on track to meet our target by April 2017. As with other sensitive Defence capabilities, I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.