To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the Government has made of the current level of threat to democracy in the UK from cyber attacks, propaganda and subversion by hostile states; and if he will make a statement.
Answered on
31 March 2017
The first duty of Government is to safeguard the nation, and we treat the security of our democratic processes extremely seriously.
Our system of paper balloting and hand counting means UK voting mechanisms do not lend themselves to direct electronic manipulation. However, the Government has in place a number of measures to protect the integrity of the electoral process from malign activity, including from cyber attack.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) offers UK organisations, including political parties, access to the best cyber security advice and support to help them meet their responsibility to protect their information and prevent cyber attacks from all possible threats.