Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help mitigate the risk of cyber-attacks affecting the maritime sector.

The cyber security of the maritime sector is a priority for my Department, DfT uses both policy and regulatory levers to support the maritime sector to effectively manage cyber risk and assist the sector to secure its networks and systems. We work closely with partners across UK government and law enforcement, the maritime industry, and others to continuously assess and mitigate emerging cyber threats to the sector.

As a Competent Authority under the Network & Information Systems regulations, DfT is committed to working with maritime operators to strengthen protection against cyber threats and improve preparedness. We will use the implementation of the Cyber Security and Resilience (NIS) Bill to further strengthen our regulatory powers, improve incident reporting, and expand the type of entities in scope.