Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many cyber-security breaches government departments recorded that involved Ransomware viruses in the last 12 months for which data is available.

For security reasons the Government does not comment on specific details of cyber security attacks. We are continuously monitoring and managing the security risks to all HMG systems.

Sixty-eight cyber incidents from all types of organisations were voluntarily reported to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in its first month of operation (1-31 October 2016). These incidents vary in scale, nature and target. Seven of these were reported ransomware incidents.

In November, the Government published its new National Cyber Security Strategy. This Strategy is supported by £1.9billion of transformational investment. The Strategy sets out ambitious policies to protect the UK in cyber space. The strategy will deliver policies and capabilities, building on three core pillars to: defend our people, businesses and assets across the public and private sectors; deter and disrupt our adversaries- states, criminals and hacktivists; develop critical capabilities to build skills, support growth and stimulate science and technology.