Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the preparedness of the police to respond to a cyber-attack.

The Government takes the threat of cyber attack seriously. Last year we created the National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency, to lead the national response to cyber crime. We are also investing in the cyber teams in Regional Organised Crime Units, and training police officers in local forces, to ensure we are fully equipped to tackle cyber attacks at every level. And we are strengthening the Computer Misuse Act to ensure that the punishments available to prosecute cyber criminals fit the crime.